Starting Over
by zoegirl7
Summary: Kris just got out of juvie and is offered a position at Raintree farms from a horse trainer named Pablo. This story is about Kris's experiences as she starts her new life, there will be Kris/Junior, but no Kris and Matt, because I thought they were awful together. This is pretty much how I wanted Wildfire to go. Also, this is my first fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

I had no idea why Pablo, the horse trainer from the stables I visited while at Camp LaGrange, offered me a job at some place called Raintree Farm. I didn't even know if I wanted the job. I'd spent my whole time in juvie thinking I'd behave well, get parole, and go back home to my old life, living with my miserable mother, and working some awful waitressing job where I'd be hit on by gross men. I didn't even think that there were other options for me besides that. So when Pablo stepped up during my hearing and told the judge he had a job for me, I just felt confused. I mean sure, I love riding Wildfire and being around the other horses at the stable, but I knew nothing about them really, so how could I work at a horse ranch? I didn't want to set myself up to fail even more than I already have, but I also didn't want to go home to my alcoholic, pill popping mother. So I accepted the terms of my parole and left the next day in Pablo's truck, with my duffle bag of belongings slung over my shoulder.

The farm seemed nice, amazing actually. I couldn't believe I was actually going to be working in a place that had such openness and beauty. It was nothing like any of my other jobs in the past, working at clubs with my mom, waiting tables in run down diners, stealing cars with older guys that would just let you take all the blame. I already gained a newfound hope for this place. And then Pablo introduced me to the owner, Jean Ritter, I could already tell that she had a lot of apprehension towards Pablo hiring me to work for them; she kept looking me up and down. Pablo then pulled her aside to talk.

"I was in her situation once too, Jean" Pablo explained, "and I only wish someone would have seen the good in me and given me some opportunity. Just give her a chance, if you don't like her after two weeks, I'll help her find something else." I overheard Pablo defend me to Jean, it was nice to know someone actually cared and understood that I wasn't a bad person just because I went to juvie once, I really admired Pablo for that.

"I understand that Pablo. But she's just so young…and beautiful. I don't want her to be a distraction for Matt." Jean finally admitted, even though the juvie thing obviously bothered her as well. I wonder who this Matt is, probably her son if she cares so much about who's distracting him. Ha. Like I'd actually even think about dating my boss's son, I'm not dumb.

"Please Jean, she's not like that. She's just here to do her job and learn about horses. You should see her ride, a natural talent." Pablo added, sticking up for me the whole time.

"Alright." She surrendered. "She can live in the trailer." She began louder, adding me to the conversation while walking towards the small metal trailer positioned near the house that her family lived in. "It's not much, but it's pretty nice for one person, and right on the property, so you don't have to commute to work." She added, with a sincere tone hinted underneath her apprehension. She might not be that bad I guess.

"Thanks, it's perfect." I said, looking inside, noting that it was a lot of steps up from my digs at Camp LaGrange, and even nicer than where I lived with my mom, mostly because she wasn't there. It had a little kitchen so, I could make a few things, a little table to eat at, and across from that was a small couch, in the back of the trailer there was a bed, some storage space, and a tiny bathroom.

"I can get you some curtains too, to spruce things up a bit if you'd like" Jean continued, noticing the lack of homeliness the trailer had.

"Thank you!" Jean must not be that bad, she just cares about her business and family is all.

As we were walking out of the trailer I saw a silver Porsche pull into the drive, and two boys around my age stepped out. The driver looked like a spoiled rich kid, but when he took his glasses off, and I saw his beautiful caring brown eyes that went perfectly with his tanned skin and brown hair, he looked like so more than a rich kid living off his parents money. With him was another boy, who was homelier looking, like someone that's lived on a farm their whole life, who cares for others; he must be Matt, Jean's son. I must say, he's cute and sweet looking, but I usually don't go for that. I mean I'm in this situation because that's the exact opposite of what I go for. And even though the other boy looks less sweet and caring, he's still nowhere near the bad boys I dated back home. First off, he drives a Porsche, and second I'm pretty sure it's not stolen like my usual dates rides, just paid for with daddy's money.

That's when Pablo noticed me looking at them, calculating them and I noticed Jean was walking towards them.

"That's Matt Ritter, Jeans oldest son, and his friend Junior Davis, the son of Davis Farm's owner near here. They're about your age, and I would imagine you'd become friends with them. But nothing more, okay?" Pablo continued, raising his eyebrows, making sure I knew the rules that I already heard Jean lay down. "I stuck my neck out to get you this job and I don't want you jeopardizing it."

"Thanks for thinking so highly of me," I joked.

"You know that's not what I mean Kris. All I mean is that I know how teenage boys can be around a pretty, mysterious new girl like you." He explained as I looked back towards the boys who were now looking at Pablo and myself, talking, probably wondering who the hell I was. Who was I really though, coming to this farm, starting a job that I had absolutely no idea how to do. God, why do I always doubt myself, Pablo obviously thinks I can do it if he hired me, right?

"Don't worry, I have no intention of getting into any of that nonsense" I reassured him, then added, "I really just want to do a good job, this is the most anyone's ever believed in me and I'm not looking to let you down Pablo" I said smiling, truly believing the words I was saying.

"I know" Pablo responded. "You'll start tomorrow, 6am sharp" was all he said before walking away towards his housing on the property.


	2. Chapter 2

I set the alarm that was already in the trailer for 5:15am, I did not want to oversleep on my first day. Making a good impression was something I needed to do, especially on Jean, that way she'd have no legitimate reason to doubt me and let me go after two weeks. When the buzzer went off I rolled over and hit the snooze, not quite ready to leave the comfort of my new warm bed. It felt so nice compared to the board I had at LaGrange, it was the best night sleep I'd had in months, after I was able to shut my mind off and fall asleep that is. Five minutes later the alarm sounded again, this time I rolled out of bed, wearing only a tank top and underwear, the trailer didn't have air conditioning and it was summer in California, so it was hot as hell. I slipped on my comfiest pair of jeans; they were form fitting around the waist but loose towards the bottom, perfect for manual labor, and the t-shirt on top of the pile in my duffel. I didn't have much for a wardrobe after being in juvie for several months, but luckily what I had seemed perfect as work clothes. I then tied my hair into a ponytail, not really worrying about brushing it, and thought about what I was going to eat. I didn't have anything in the trailer, since I just got here last night. My stomach was growling, begging me to give it something before a long day of work.

I decided it would be best to go over to Pablo's house just across from my trailer and ask him, it definitely wouldn't be a good idea to bother Jean. So I shoved on my sneakers and walked across the gravel and knocked on Pablo's brown door, hoping he'd be awake already, it was 5:30 now, so I thought he would. He then answered the door in only a towel and a toothbrush hanging in his mouth. He was attractive, in a manly sense. He had a muscular body, and a tan that accentuated it well. And he had a strong, sensitive face, I'm pretty sure he's older than my older brother too, so he's probably just a little bit too old for me.

"What do you need Kris?" he questioned, obviously taken aback by someone coming to his door this early in the morning.

"Sorry to bother you while you're getting ready Pablo, but I was wondering what exactly everyone does for breakfast. At Camp LaGrange we had to be in the cafeteria by seven to get breakfast and out by eight. So do all the workers like, eat together, or on their own? Cause if it's on our own, I don't have anything yet and I'd really hate to start my first day with an empty stomach, you know?" I rambled, unsure why I felt so nervous asking such a simple question, to such a nice guy.

"Right. Breakfast." Was all he responded, looking at me, concerned. "Come in you can eat whatever you want, kitchens over there," he pointed towards his decent sized kitchen. "I'm just going to finish getting dressed." He said while walking towards what must be his bathroom and shutting the door. I settled on some cereal, tasty, and I really don't like to cook, so it made it an even better option.

"So, you were ready pretty early." Pablo said, walking into the kitchen while rolling up the sleeves to his plaid shirt.

"Yeah, you know, didn't want to be late the first day." I explained. "Doesn't really take me long to get ready either, since in juvie the showers weren't exactly the nicest, I learned to take fewer. All I have to do is get dressed and eat," I added.

"Well, I'll take you to the store later so you can get some food." He smiled.

"Thanks for the cereal" I said while putting the bowl in the sink.

"No problem. You ready to go?" He asked. "I already ate."

"Yep."

Pablo and I walked out of his house together and I noticed Jean and her family looking at us leave. It might look kinda weird I guess, me leaving the house of the man who hired me, early in the morning. But it wasn't like that, at all.

"Morning Jean." Pablo greeted as we walked towards her.

"Good morning Pablo, Kris." She replied, glancing between Pablo and I.

"Kris doesn't have any food yet, so I'm going to take her to the store after work, so she can eat breakfast on her own time from now on." Pablo added, aware of the awkwardness going on and feeling the need to explain his self.

"Oh, right. Well I'm glad you were able to get some breakfast from Pablo then, Kris." Jean said, finally understanding what was really happening, and then her son Matt and some little kid walked out of the house and joined us. "Kris, these are my sons," she said introducing the boys, "Matt and Todd. My father Henry lives with us as well. This used to be, well still is, his farm." Jean explained.

"Hi, I'm Kris Furillo." I smiled with my hand out to the younger boy and then the older one.

"Kris is a new farm hand that Pablo hired, she'll be living in the trailer and helping around."

"Cool." Todd said, smiling at Kris, he seemed very friendly, around twelve maybe. "Have you worked with horses before?" He asked the question I hoped no one would.

"Not really, I mean I rode a little at camp, where I met Pablo, but that's about it." I answered, purposely leaving out the juvie part.

"She's a natural on a horse though" Pablo added, sensing my self-doubt. "She'll do great." He said looking at me, assuring me. "I'm going to go show her what she's supposed to do. Bye." He said while I followed him over to the stable that held the horses. "Everyday there'll be different things around the farm for you to do. It'll be a lot of manual labor, but I know you can handle it, and after awhile, when your body becomes used to it, it won't seem that bad. Today I'm going to have you clean the stalls that the horses are in while they go for there morning graze. Then you'll help move all the hay inside. Let's just start there okay?" He said after noticing the overwhelming look I had on my face.

"Okay…Thanks" I said as he handed me a shovel to clean up the horse crap. Great.

After cleaning all the stalls and helping move the hay into the stable, I was exhausted, and it was only nine o'clock. "So I'm going to be doing this, or something like this everyday?" I asked Pablo, panting.

"Yep. That's what farm hands do. But like I said, your body gets used the extraneous stuff, you'll become strong in no time. I might even let you exercise the horses sometime too." He added, trying to ease the pain of the hard job.

"Thanks." I said kind of sarcastically. "I miss Wildfire, do you think I'll ever be able to go and visit him?"

"No, I mean you could go to the stable where he was kept, but he was recently purchased." Pablo said kindly.

"By who?" I said, upset that I would never get to see Wildfire again.

"I'm not sure, but all the horses that the police didn't want to use were either sent to auction or sold by interested farms."

"I knew those horses were being trained for the police. But what else would horses be sold for except to have as pets?" I questioned, still new to this horse world.

"Well, farms mainly want to buy them to teach lessons on, or have as race horses, like us and Davis farms." He explained, not fully answering.

"What else could they be sold for though?" I urged, thinking the worst, like people that like to eat horses or something.

"It doesn't matter, I'm pretty sure Wildfire was bought by a nice farm that just wanted him to teach lessons with." Pablo said, a little unsure. "Now you need to get back to work." Was all he said and then he continued to show me what I'd do next. I didn't want to argue with him.

At lunchtime I ate with the rest of the staff, who were all men, including Pablo. He brought me a turkey sandwich and some water. "Thanks." I said as he handed me the food. Then I noticed Matt walking over with his lunch. "Does Matt eat with the staff?" I asked Pablo.

"Well he is works too. I mean he helps me train the horses a bit, and fixes things around the property." Pablo explained. "But no, he normally eats in the house or is hanging out with Junior, he doesn't work a lot, Jean wants him to focus on school, and getting into college, that stuff."

"Oh" I responded. "Then why is he coming over to eat with us now?" I questioned, causing Pablo to look over to where I pointed and scowl a little, strange.

"I don't know." He said, obviously having his own ideas of why.

"Hey guys, can I eat with you?" He asked. Right, like the staff would actually tell the boss's son he couldn't sit with them.

"Yeah, man." One of the workers, Jose I think, said, and the others responded the same.

"So Kris," Matt began, "how do you like the new job?"

"Well, it's a lot different than any of the other jobs I've had before." I laughed thinking of the polarity between my old and new lives. I ate lunch with a bunch of pretty women that smoked, or drank at my old jobs normally. Now I was eating with a bunch of sweaty men.

"Oh yeah?" He continued on, looking to keep the conversation alive. "What did you do before this?"

"You know. This and that, mainly waitressing type stuff," I said vaguely.

"Cool! That's probably a lot less dirty than this job." He laughed. I just smiled and nodded

"Yeah, but it's been a little while since I've worked though. So it'll nice to get some kind of income, and this is better than lousy tips."

"Why haven't you worked in awhile? College?" He asked, assuming I was old enough to be in college, when in reality I was his age.

"Uh, no. I haven't even graduated high school yet actually." I said, not really answering his question, I didn't know if I was supposed to let the son know I'd been in juvie the last six months of my life.

"Kris was in a camp for awhile" Pablo explained, "straightening out her life a little." He added, lightly smiling at me.

"Oh" Matt said confused, probably unsure of why I had to go to a camp to straighten out my life. Great, thanks Pablo. Matt then looked towards the house and saw his friend, "Hey Junior! I'm over hear man!" he yelled. Junior starting jogging over towards the tree we were all sitting under.

"Dude. What are you doing eating here?" Junior asked, obviously confused by his friends strange behavior, just like Pablo. Then he looked at me and smiled. "Oh" he said while staring at me. "This must be the new girl. Living in the trailer." He said with a goofy grin on his face, "I'm Junior" He smiled, smirked really, then winked.

"Kris." Was all I responded, looking them over, I had my hands in my back pockets, and tried to look as unapproachable as possible. I was just here to work and didn't want to get mixed up with the bosses son and his friends.

"Well Kris, what's a pretty young thing like yourself doing on a beautiful day with a bunch of sweaty men on a dirty farm?" He said, trying to sound smooth or something.

"Uh…working" I said obviously, Matt and Pablo chuckled at my obvious put down of his flirting.

"Right. Well if you ever wanna do something a little more fun, I'll take you on a ride in the Porsche." He winked.

"Wow. Thanks." The boy was cute, but man was he cocky.

"Anyway, come on Matt, let's go were meeting Dani for lunch, remember? My sister, your girlfriend." He said, glancing at me to make sure I understood Matt had a girlfriend, like I cared.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. But Kris, there's this town festival tonight, everyone's going you should come too." Matt said while standing up to leave.

"Yeah, Kris. It'll be loads of fun." Junior said sarcastically, obviously not looking forward to it. I just looked at Pablo, who didn't seem sure about it.

"Nah, I think I'll be too tired after work to do anything. I'm just going to get settled in." I said truthfully, I really didn't want to go, and I really was going to be tired.

"Well at least think about it" Matt pleaded before he left to get into Junior's fancy sports car.

"You handled that well." Pablo said to me after the car drove off.

"Handled what well?" I asked confused about what he was talking about.

"Those guys flirting with you. I'm glad you were able to let them off gently is all."

"First off, they weren't flirting with me, at least not well. And second, I was just being honest, I'm already tired from work and I can only imagine how I'll feel after the rest of the day." I said with a laugh, mainly because Pablo thought that that was flirting, he really needs to get out more.

"Trust me, those boys were flirting with you Kris." Maybe I need to get out more then, or hang around nicer boys. Because the last time someone flirted with me he was grabbing my ass and asking for a refill or something, I've also been in juvie for the last six months, so maybe I'm not as keen as I used to be about these things.

"Whatever Pablo." I surrendered. "What am I doing next?" I asked, having finished my sandwich a while ago.

"Fixing the fence" he smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey guys - Thanks for the reviews, honestly I was surprised anyone read this seeing as how Wildfire hasn't been on since I was in middle school. But I'm thrilled that you guys like it! I'm still not sure what direction I'm going to go in in terms of Kris's love interest, so let me know your opinions (if you want). I also wasn't a fan of her stealing Wildfire and going back to Camp LaGrange, so that probably won't happen either. Anyways, thanks & enjoy -Z**_

"So did you think anymore about tonight?" Matt grinned as I was walking back to my trailer, ready to lie down forever.

"I'm tired Matt, maybe some other time." I said with a smile, trying not to hurt his feelings, maybe Pablo was right, he was flirting.

"I understand. Getting use to the work can be hard. Next time it is." He said, obviously trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Goodnight." Was all I said before entering my trailer for the night; I didn't even wait to hear him say it back.

When I got inside my trailer, I immediately stripped down out of my dirty clothes and hopped into the shower, the warm water felt amazing after such a long day of work. It would've been even better if the water was hot, but I'm not complaining, it was definitely better than Camp LaGrange. I washed the grime off my body, shaved my legs, and washed my hair. I wrapped a towel around my body when I got out of the shower and just sat down on the little couch I had and put my feet on the other end of it. Waiting tables all day was hard, but lifting things and cleaning horseshit was way harder. But I liked it, it made me feel like I accomplished something I never thought I could, and I could already start to feel new muscles forming in my arms and legs from all the lifting. As I lied there on my couch reflecting on the day I heard a noise that sounded like it came from right outside my window. So I peaked through the blinds to see what was making the noise only to see Junior Davis standing their knocking on my window.

"What do you want Junior!?" I said annoyed that he couldn't just come to the door like a normal person.

"I'm just here to pick up Matt for the festival and noticed that your light was on, thought I'd stop by and say hello. You know, be neighborly." He joked, displaying his cocky grin.

"But we're not neighbors" I said, pointing from myself and then to him. "And why couldn't you use the door?" I argued.

"Well technically we live on neighboring farms, and this seemed more fun." He laughed.

"Whatever." I said shutting the blinds and lying back down, when I heard a knock at the door. "Go away Junior." I said as I got up to tell him to go away, but when I answered the door it was an older gentleman, most likely Jean's dad Henry. "Oh, sorry. Hi. I thought you were someone else." I said, looking down at my towel, realizing my lack of clothes.

"It's fine. I just wanted to introduce myself to the nice young lady taking residence in the trailer." He said, stepping in and making himself at home.

"Right, well I'm Kris" I smiled shaking his hand.

"Henry. I'm Jeans father, and the original owner of Raintree." He smiled, he seemed so warm, and kind. "Are you coming to the festival tonight? I think it'd be good if you did, I know Todd would like it." He continued, getting to the point of why he really came.

"Oh, um…no. I wasn't planning on it. I'm pretty tired from work and just thought I'd settle in tonight." I explained.

"Well I think it'd be good if you came, got to know everyone a little better" he smiled, hinting at the lack of my choice on the matter.

"I don't have anything to wear though." I quickly came up with, noticing his nice attire.

"Well that's why I brought this," he said, revealing the bag he'd been holding the whole time. "There some of Jean's old things that she thought you could fit into."

"Okay. Yeah, thanks." I couldn't come up with any other excuse as why I couldn't come, so I took the bag that he offered and told him I'd get dressed.

"Good, you can probably ride with Pablo then, and he can introduce you to people. Or you can find me once you get there and I will." He said as he was leaving,

Great. Now I have to go to this stupid thing. Curse Henry for being so nice, and giving me no way out. Whatever. I looked in the bag of clothes that Jean put together for me, they were really nice actually; some jeans, a few t-shirts, and some nicer things like blouses, skirts and even a couple dresses. That was so nice of her to let me have her old clothes. I'd have to thank her.

I settled on a pretty casual dress, I'm not really one for dressing up, girly things never really attracted me, probably because I'd always hung out with boys that were just interested in cars and my body, so I dressed as neutral as I could. But the dress was really nice, it was light blue with spaghetti straps and went to my upper thigh, kinda short, but I didn't really mind showing off my legs. I only had a pair of sneakers and some black converse, I chose the converse; reminding myself to go shopping once I got paid. I decided to wear my hair down, so I just ran my brush through it once, and went across the drive to Pablo's house.

"Hey" I said when he answered the door. "Did Henry tell you how he forced me into coming tonight even though I came up with every excuse why I couldn't" I joked, noticing him staring at my unusual dress, he's only seen me in juvie gear and jeans after all.

"Yeah, he mentioned how he got you to come and gave you some of Jean's old things." Pablo finally responded, looking away from me and walking back in to his house.

"You look nice" I added as I followed him inside, noticing his clean jeans and nice button down.

"So do you" he quickly said. "Henry said that I'd be taking you then, and that I should show you around, I guess."

"You really don't have to show me around if you don't want to. I mean, I'd really rather just show up, say hi, and leave. But whatever you want to do." I smiled, hopefully not sounding too eager to not want to go.

"We'll see how it goes," he said while exiting his house and locking the door behind.

Pablo's truck was nice, simple really; a perfect truck for a horse trainer, or anyone who worked on a farm. The inside was surprisingly clean for his occupation, but definitely had seen some dirt in its day. Pablo didn't listen to the radio, I noted, so we just sat there in silence until I finally said something. "So my first day of work went pretty well, I think?" I questioned not knowing if I did well or not.

"Yeah, you did well." Pablo assured me. "Tomorrow will feel easier, and eventually you won't even feel tired afterwards." He reminded me for the millionth time.

"Great" I said, not wanting to think about working again tomorrow. "So this festival thing, do a lot of people around town go?"

"Yeah, almost the whole town really, you won't meet everyone though, it's not that big. I'll just introduce you to the people that I think you'll meet later on."

"Cool. Will there be food?" I questioned as my stomach growled at me.

"Yes, and we can stop at the store after to get you some stuff for your trailer" he laughed, and I realized I talk about food a lot. "Well here we are," he said, as he parked by what looked like the main street of the town.

"Yippy…" I joked, not excited at all about what I was about to do.

"Just smile and everything will be fine." He said, laughing at my obvious lack of excitement.

I knew my gut feeling about coming to this stupid thing was right the second I saw Matt, Junior and what looked to be there friends. I didn't really want to make friends with them, even though I'd probably see Matt and Junior around, being acquaintances was just fine with me, Pablo was enough friends for me. But I grinned and bared it when Pablo told me I should go say hi to them.

"I thought you specifically said not to get too close to Matt," I teased reminding him of what he said yesterday.

"Yes, but ignoring him and his friends would be rude. So go over, say hi, and meet me back over here in a bit and I'll introduce you to some other people."

"How bout you introduce me to those other people first, and then we'll talk about the other part later." I suggested, not wanting to meet all the snobby looking friends Matt and Junior had.

"Fine, but you can't ignore them forever."

"Fine." Was all I responded as Pablo began leading the way for me to meet all sorts of people, some of them looked well to do, while others seemed more like Pablo and the Ritter's. I noticed Jean standing with her father and some rich looking man, talking about something. "Who's that?" I asked Pablo pointing towards the man Jean was conversing with.

"That's Ken Davis, Junior and Dani's dad. He owns Davis Farms, just down the road from Raintree." He said, while he eyed the conversation going on between the pair.

"So is he as nice as Junior?" I joked.

"Nicer" Pablo laughed. "But really, he knows a lot about horses, and wins races a lot. That's mainly because he has the money to buy the best horses, best jockeys, and best trainers." Pablo added with a little bitterness.

"You don't like him very much, huh?" I speculated.

"He's not all bad, he just doesn't put in the work that people like the Ritter's do, but reaps all the benefits. Can't blame him though I guess, he's a good business man at the end of the day." Pablo added, trying to not badmouth him too much.

"Introduce me" I had to meet this other horse guy, see what he was all about.

"Really? You want to meet him, but not Matt and Junior's friends?" Pablo questioned, obviously bewildered by my strange request.

"He has more to do with my job than they do. Right?" I argued.

"I suppose that's true." Pablo agreed.

"By the way, are we like not telling Matt and them about my previous engagement before I started working here, or?"

"I'm not actually sure if Jean wanted us to mention it or not, I'll have to ask." He responded obviously thinking back to lunch that day.

"Jean, Henry" Pablo greeted, nodding his head, "Ken."

"Hello Pablo, and who is this, a date?" Ken Davis asked looking me over with hungry eyes, gross.

"Um, no" Pablo laughed, obviously seeing me as a sister or something. "This is Kris, the new farm hand at Raintree." He said introducing me.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Davis." I said with a smile, and slightly flirty eyes, just for a laugh.

"Well what's a beautiful girl like you doing working a job like that?" He questioned, ha, like father like son.

"Pablo offered, I accepted." Was all I had to say to the sexist comment that kept being asked.

"Kris was previously at Camp LaGrange, Pablo met her while she was volunteering at a horse stable and offered her work so she could make parole." Jean explained, answering that question. Pablo looked kind of shocked himself that she was being so straightforward.

"Really?" He said surprised. "Well you certainly don't look like a criminal." He laughed.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself a criminal" I responded, annoyed that I would probably be labeled that for the rest of my life, "I just made a single bad decision that I payed the consequences for." I responded strongly, making sure my point was understood by all present. "Haven't you ever made a bad decision that you regretted Mr. Davis?" I added at the end, showing my confidence.

"Well yes, yes I have." He smiled at me, seeing that I might not be entirely awful after all, and I happened to notice Jean and Henry smiling as well.

"That went surprisingly well" Pablo said, surprised.

"Why's that? It's not like I don't know how to act around powerful people. I did get out on good behavior, remember?" I teased.

"How about having even better behavior and going over to where Matt and his friends are." Pablo said, ceasing the opportunity.

"Nice segway man." I joked as I finally gave up the fight and turned towards the group of teenagers I loathed to talk to.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey." I said to Matt as I walked up to the group.

"Kris! You came!" Matt cheered and smiled, I notice what I presumed was Dani glare at her boyfriends excitement. She was pretty; tan like Junior, had a beautiful smile like him too, with short brown hair, they were obviously related.

"Yep, Henry practically forced me" I joked, suddenly feeling nervous around all these people. Why didn't I feel nervous around Mr. Davis but I feel it around them?

"Well I'm glad you did. Did you come with my mom and granddad then?" He asked.

"Nope, Pablo brought me and has been introducing me to death." I laughed.

"Well you'll get to meet my dad then." Dani said, obviously hoping he'd hate me as much as she did.

"Uh, yeah. I already did, he's actually pretty nice," I said with a smile, knowing it would piss her off, I just hated girls that felt entitled because their parents had money.

"Oh. My dad seemed nice to you?" Junior laughed as he looked at what I was wearing. "It was probably the dress." He explained. "Cause my father isn't exactly nice."

"Well he wasn't at first, but I think he came to find that I was someone he should be nice to" I retorted, annoyed that Junior would think his dad was only being nice because of the way I looked.

"Yeah, sure." He laughed again.

"Anyways, Pablo made me come over here to meet Matt's friends so here I am." I smiled and waved, "I'm Kris."

"I'm Dani, Matt's girlfriend, Junior's sister," she said, marking her territory. Then the others introduced themselves, there was some girl named Angela who was apparently Dani's best friend, and a bunch of other people whom I didn't really care to remember.

"Well it was nice meeting you all" I began, ready to leave this conversation and go home, to bed.

"Yeah, you too" Angela smiled, seeming like a pretty descent person, Dani glared at her and nudged her in the side in response, obviously not pleased with her best friend being nice to me.

"See you at home." Matt said, great, he refers to our separate living quarters as home. I'm sure that would enthuse Pablo and Jean.

"Uh, yeah, okay." I said, turning to leave. Just I was about to finally reach Pablo, who was waiting for me at his truck, I heard someone call my name.

"Kris! Kris, wait up!" Somebody yelled from behind me, I turned to see who it was and lull and behold, it was none other than Matt, seriously kid, where's your girlfriend.

"What Matt?" I asked, annoyed by his persistence, and by Pablo definitely being right about this one.

"I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're working at Raintree, and that I think you're really beautiful, and nice, and probably a lot of others things that I'd like to find out about." He explained, still panting a little from running after her.

"Matt," I sighed, unsure of how to approach this, "look, that's sweet and all, but you have a girlfriend, Dani, remember? And I work for your mom, and I know she definitely doesn't want anything like that to happen. I also really don't need a boyfriend right now, okay? So just let whatever you think you feel for me after knowing me for five seconds go." I said, not wanting this crush to escalate any further, for my job and my personal sake, Matt was cute, but not my type. Like at all. The whole time I was talking he was just nodding, but then when I finished, he looked me deep and the eyes and then he just went for it and kissed me.

"Matt! What are you doing? Did you not just listen to a word I said?" I yelled, shoving him off of me. And at that moment I realized Pablo was watching the whole thing, and coming over.

"Just think about it, okay?" Matt quickly responded before running away.

"What was that?!" Pablo questioned, loudly.

"Matt just confessed his feelings for me. And then I told him all the reasons why that was something he shouldn't be thinking about and then bam! he kissed me out of nowhere, practically mid sentence. So I shoved him off and he ran away when he saw you coming." I explained quickly, hoping Pablo wouldn't be mad, but he didn't look mad. He looked sorry that I thought he'd be mad. But then he looked kind of scared and was staring off behind me.

"Great" he breathed seeing Jean coming over to the scene where the kiss just happened.

"I saw what happened" Jean began, but before she could say anything else I said exactly what I told Pablo. "I know Kris, I told you I saw. I'm sorry that Matt kissed you like that, I should've explained to him no dating the staff. We've just never had a young woman work for us before, it's all kind of new."

"Oh" was all I had to say, "Okay. Well I guess Pablo and I should get going then? He was going to take me to pick up some food, right Pablo?" I said, trying to change topics quickly.

"Right. We should get going before the store closes."

"Okay, well see you later tonight then. I'll make sure to talk to Matt so this doesn't happen again." Jean said sincerely. Wow, I can't believe she didn't blame me, most mothers would say I was the young hussy seducing their son or something.

"Well that was certainly eventful!" I muster up as we're driving towards the store.

"Yeah, most eventful festival yet" Pablo laughed at the situation.

"I feel bad for Matt though, I mean it really seemed like he had strong feelings for me after only meeting twice." I said confused as to why he felt so attracted to me so quickly.

"Well it's hard to blame him" Pablo responded shyly, "I mean, look at you. You didn't even have to shower this morning and you looked beautiful." What? What is Pablo saying, he shouldn't be thinking that, "I mean, not in a romantic way," he added noticing my confusion towards his words, "I'm just letting you know what teenage boys think when they see someone like you." Phew, now that would've been awkward.

"Oh. Well I've seen prettier girls than me. I mean Dani Davis is gorgeous, and his girlfriend. That should be enough."

"Yes, well some teenage boys think about more than just looks." Pablo said to me.

"Yeah, sex. Does that mean Matt thinks I'll be easier to sleep with than Dani, cause I really, really don't think so." I laughed.

"No, I mean personality Kris." Pablo said, obviously annoyed.

"Seriously Pablo, personality? Trust me, I've known a lot of teenage boys, and personality is definitely not on their list of requirements when getting to know someone."

"Well, you obviously know the wrong boys then, Matt's not like that. He's got a big heart." Pablo defended.

"Whatever. I just hope that big heart of his will start to feel something for his girlfriend and nothing but friendship for me!" And with that the conversation ended, with us finally agreeing on one thing, Matt should not like me.


	5. Chapter 5

_**So I always used to wonder why people wanted reviews, and who knows if I want them for the same reason. Basically please review if you don't like the direction this story is going, because I'm still a little unsure myself what exactly I want to happen. I'll still post if you don't review though, unless I can't come up with something to write about. Anyways, here's chapter 5. -Z**_

It was hard for me to fall asleep again. Not because I was nervous about the new job or people, everyone here was really nice. But because I kept thinking back to what Pablo said earlier, about the horses mainly being sold to farms as pets, or racehorses, or for lessons. What about the ones that weren't sold for that, where did they go? Where did Wildfire go? Eventually I convinced myself that I'd worry about it tomorrow and drifted to sleep. Only to be woken by my alarm seven hours later. Uh, I didn't even have to wake up this early at LaGrange. I didn't push the snooze button though, remembering my thoughts about Wildfire. So I got dressed and put on the new hat I got from Jean's things, leaving my hair down, and ate some of my cereal that Pablo so kindly bought for me. I'd pay him back once I had some money. Once I finished my breakfast I pulled on my sneakers and hopped out of my tiny trailer, only to find Todd walking towards it. I was actually glad; he probably knows a little about horses, he does live on a farm after all. I also wanted to get to know him better.

"Hey Todd!" I said smiling, "How are you?"

"Hi Kris, I'm pretty good, not really digging being up this early though" he added, as I noticed he was still in his pajamas.

"Why are you then? I'm sure Jean doesn't have you working, does she?" I asked, concerned for the boy if this was the case.

"No, she doesn't, but I'm going fishing with Matt and grandpa, so we're getting an early start."

"Oh, well that'll be fun I bet!" I said a little too cheerfully, excited that Matt wouldn't be around for a bit. "So Todd, how much do you know about horse sales?" I asked, ceasing the moment alone with him.

"A bit, why?"  
"Well, there was this horse that I used to ride, where I met Pablo, and he was either sold or sent to an auction, and I was wondering if theirs anyway to find out which."

"Well that'll be pretty tough to find out, you'd have to go to the stable the horse was at and ask them."

"Oh." Great, that's like 30 miles from here, how am I going to get there, I didn't wanna rely on Pablo to take me everywhere. "Thanks Todd. You're nice to talk to."

"No problem, you too. Much better than Matt, he's always so moody, which is funny cause you're the girl!" He said teasing his brother, and at that moment Matt also started walking towards us. Uh…

"Hey guys! Whatcha talking about?" Matt questioned.

"Oh nothing, just horse stuff" Todd said with a laugh, I giggled a little too.

"So, uh, Kris. Sorry about last night, I don't know what I was thinking."

"It's fine Matt, just please don't do it again." I smiled, trying to sound as kind as possible.

"Yeah of course not. Anyways, Todd and I are going fishing with our grandpa."

"That's what Todd said, I hope you guys have fun. I gotta get to work though. So see ya later." I waved as I walked away.

"Okay, uh, bye." Matt responded, disappointed that our talk was cut short.

"Bye Kris! I hope you can find that horse." Todd smiled.

"Me too." I quietly said as I walked away.

While I was finishing up my work on a fence that needed to be rebuilt, thinking about lunch and how I was going to get a ride to the stables I used to go to, Pablo approached me.

"So, since it's Friday, and you've been working so hard, I thought you could have the rest of the day off, maybe we could go get something to eat together. Or something." Oh god, seriously Pablo? Lunch? Just the two of us?

"Umm… I actually was just thinking about eating a sandwich, I have all that food from yesterday, better put it to use."

"Okay suit yourself, Jean and I are still going to go though, and you can still have the rest of the day off." Oh Jean's going too, so Pablo wasn't just asking me.

"Alright! Thanks Pablo!" I was glad I had some time to think about how to get to the stables.

In my trailer I had fridge that I put my bread, juice, milk, and cold cuts for sandwiches, along with some veggie's and fruit to snack on as well. In the small amount of cupboard space that I had, I kept a few bags of chips, god I love chips, and a package of cookies. Not much, but definitely enough to live on. I made a quick sandwich, put some chips on my plate, and poured myself a glass of juice. Out my window I could see Pablo and Jean pulling out of the driveway. I wonder where Matt and Todd's dad was. I could see her and Pablo together, except there was a bit of an age difference. As I was getting lost in my thoughts I saw Junior Davis's silver Porsche pull into the dirt driveway. It just didn't look right, an expensive car, in the dirt. God how I'd love to drive that thing; my last boyfriend always let me drive the cars that he fixed up with stolen parts, we would go out to the back roads, and I would lay it out. I miss that, even though it was all basically illegal. The car, the driving, even the boyfriend. I mean, I was only fifteen, and he was nineteen when we first started dating, but I'd grown up with him, so it didn't seem weird to me, or anyone around us really. Even my older brother was cool with it. But I couldn't be like that anymore; I could not go back to juvie. The knock on my door shook me from my thoughts.

"Who is it?" I asked, assuming it was Junior.

"Just your friendly neighborhood watch" he joked. I couldn't help but giggle a little, and I opened the door.

"Well, there was a strange man looking through my window yesterday night, I guess I should report him." I teased back.

"Oh yeah? I bet he was a handsome fellow?"

"Rather full of himself really, a little too cocky and straightedge for me." I answered truthfully.

"Straightedge? You think I'm straightedge?" He responded, offended by the title.

"Well, yeah compared to the guys I know."

"What the hell kinda guys do you know?"

"Bad ones" I said seriously.

"Well I can be bad too, if that's what your into." He smiled, god his smile was beautiful.

"Not anymore." I said sternly and immediately switched the subject, "what are you doing here Junior?"

"I came to see Matt, but no one seems to be home."

"Matt, Todd, and Henry went fishing, Jean and Pablo went to lunch or something. I'm off for the rest of the day, along with everyone else." I explained to him.

"Matt didn't mention fishing." He said, a little hurt.

"Yeah, well I think it was a spur of the moment thing or something, Jean probably wanted him out of the house for a bit." At least that's what I was guessing.

"Why? Jean loves having Matt and Todd around, Henry too."

"I don't know, she probably Matt needed some time away after he shoved his tongue down my throat!" I said, just then coming to that conclusion.

"What? Matt kissed you? When?" Oh yeah, Matt's dating his sister.

"Last night, but I shoved him off. I mean I was in the middle of telling him the reasons why having feelings for me was a bad idea, your sister being one, and next thing I know he's kissing me. Jean and Pablo saw, and now he's on a fishing trip." I explained.

"Well I'm sorry Matt's so horny. My sister must not be giving him any, since they're on a break and all."

"Oh? I thought they were dating." This is confusing.

"Well they are, technically, but they're always going on breaks and stuff, it gets confusing. I'm definitely single though," he said, raising his eyebrows at the idea. I kinda liked the idea too, but there was no way I'd let him know, but I could use this to my advantage.

"Yeah, great Junior" I said rolling my eyes. Then I added, "even though being with you sounds lovely, I was just wondering if I could borrow your car for like an hour or two?" I said, using my best puppy dogface.

"You wanna borrow my car?" He asked contemplating his options. "I guess you could" Yay! "But only if I'm in it with you, no one goes in my car without me."

"So what you're saying is I can drive?" I asked cheerfully.

"Yep, but you have to be careful, it can be a little tricky." I just laughed; I've driven trickier cars than that.

And with that, I left a note on my door saying I'm going out and hopped into the driver seat of Junior's car.

"So where we going princess? Not to visit your bad, bad boyfriend I hope." Junior joked at my previous preference in men.

"Just to this stable, where I learned to ride. Pablo said my horse, well the horse I always rode, Wildfire was sold, and I need to find out where to." I explained.

"Well that doesn't sound fun at all" Junior teased, but leaned back and let me drive none the less.

"So, this thing probably reaches like 170, right?" I asked about the car.

"171, actually, but I've only gone up to like 100 though." He admitted.

"Seriously. I use to go like 120 in my ex-boyfriends car when we'd take the back roads."

"Seriously!? What kinda car did he drive?" Junior asked, obviously interested in the ex part.

"Just a Honda, but he upgraded the whole engine. It was the car I learned to drive on actually, and before I knew it I was going crazy fast. Kinda like the relationship" I laughed, remembering all the crazy times Win and I had, before I got sent to juvie for helping him steal a car.

"How long ago did you two break up?" Junior asked, seeming to really wanna know.

"About six months ago, and we didn't actually break up now that I think about it. I mean I just stopped talking to him when he let all the blame fall on me and I went to juvie. But we dated for almost a year before that. I knew him all my life. Sucks the way things turn out I guess." Junior just sat there staring at me with his jaw hanging down, crap. I figured his dad must have mentioned the juvie thing to him. Oh well.

"You were in juvie?! For what?" He asked immediately engrossed in this new fact about me.

"Stealing a car. But my boyfriend set me up, I didn't know it was stolen, and that they were going to use it for parts. It's stupid really. But I did my time, and now I'm trying to do better." I explained, hoping he wouldn't want me to stop driving.

"Well that's pretty hot," was his response, "what was the shower situation like?" he kinda joked.

"Seriously Junior? That's what you have to say?" I ask, surprised he's not asking me to pull over to stop driving his expensive car.

"What do you want me to say? 'Oh god Kris, don't shoot me! Take my money and my car. Just don't shoot me!'" He joked, "but seriously Kris. You don't seem dangerous at all, and if you were I'm sure Mrs. Ritter would not let you be living near Matt and Todd." He assured me.

"Okay…" I hesitated; everyone so far was seriously cool with my situation. "The only reason I even mentioned it to you was because I thought your dad would've told you last night after I told him."

"My dad knows? That's surprising cause he kept going on about how nice you were last night. Dani was pretty much livid, she doesn't like you much; probably because Matt does, Matt definitely likes you much" Junior joked.

"Yeah, I know, he confessed his love to me last night, remember." I laughed, poor Matt. "Well we're here."  
Junior and I walked into the horse ranch, and I immediately went to the front desk, I knew the women that worked there from all the times I've come here.

"Hi Mary!"

"Kris! It's good to see you again, I see you got out." She said, congratulating me, she was never one to judge. "What can I help you with?" She asked, eyeing Junior behind me, he really was attractive.

"I was wondering who Wildfire was sold to? Pablo said he and some other horses were sold."

"Well let me check." She smiled, searching something on her computer. "It looks like Wildfire was sold to a place called Raintree Farm, just about 30 miles from here!" What? I hadn't seen Wildfire at the farm, what was going on. Is this why Pablo wasn't explaining more to her, or why he let her have the rest of the day off? "You looked confused honey, don't worry, I know them, their very nice there, Wildfire is definitely in good hands, it's where Pablo works actually."

"I know, I started working there yesterday, Pablo hired me. I just wasn't aware that they bought him is all. Thank you so much for your help Mary!" I added, still in shock over everything.

"Glad I could help, come back to visit anytime." She said, winking at Junior.

"Well that was a waste of time," Junior complained. "And I'm hungry, so you have to come to lunch with me to make up for it."

"Fine. But you're buying" seeing as how I have no money.

"And driving" he said, stepping into the drivers seat.


	6. Chapter 6

_**This chapter is pretty short, but the next will be longer. Hope everyone likes where the story is going. -Z**_

Lunch with Junior was actually really nice, he was funny; I'd always loved that in a guy, someone who could make me laugh. But that doesn't mean that I like Junior or anything. I think.

"So…my place or yours?" Junior joked as we were driving back to the farm.

"Mine," I smiled "but you're not staying." I couldn't help it, teasing him was so fun. Or was it flirting? Whatever, it was fun either way.

"Not even for some conversation? You don't even have to invite me in, I'll just stand outside your window." He joked, laughing about the other night.

"Maybe for a bit. But I have work in the morning, so not too long okay?"

"Jeeze grandma, I thought you were supposed to be bad. It's only four o'clock."

"I use to be bad, not anymore though. Remember?" I said with a flirtatious smile. I couldn't help it; I was just so attracted to this guy. Even though he was slightly inappropriate at times and nothing like any guy I ever dated before.

"Right, well, I'll just walk you to your door then." He smiled, taking me seriously for once.

When we arrived at Raintree I noticed that all the cars were back, meaning everyone made it home before me. Great, now I'd have to question Pablo about the Wildfire thing.

Junior walked me to my door like he said, but he also gave me a kiss on the cheek. It felt nice, and it didn't seem like the kind of thing he would normally do. Even though he wasn't like the bad boys she dated, he still seemed like a player. She was glad he didn't actually try to kiss her though, like Matt did.

"Goodnight Kris. I'll see you later?" He questioned, making sure this wasn't a onetime thing.

"Yeah, see you later. Goodnight" I smiled, tucking some hair behind my ear. I couldn't believe that Junior Davis was giving me butterflies. So weird. And then I watched him walk to his car, start it, and drive away.

As soon as Junior drove away Pablo was at my doorstep.

"So where did you two go?" He asked, like an interrogation.

"I didn't realize working here also meant I had to tell you everywhere I went. I'm out of juvie, remember?" I teased.

"Yes," he sighed, irritated with me not actually answering the question, "but I thought I told you not to get involved with Junior."

"I remember you and Jean saying something about Matt, which is understandable. But you never said anything about Junior, and even if you did, I wouldn't listen because you can't tell me who I can an can't be friends with when it doesn't concern work." I responded, angry that Pablo thought he could.

"Well, Junior Davis does concern work. He's Matt's best friend, his dad owns a competing business, not to mention he's trying to buy this one."

"What? Ken Davis is trying to buy Raintree? Why?"

"Well, when Jean's ex-husband, Pete, left, he kind of left Jean in serious debt, he had a bit of a gambling problem. Raising racehorses wasn't exactly the best place to try and cure that addiction and Jean was over it, so they divorced and he left, leaving behind a mess."  
"That sucks. How did Jean have the money to hire me then?" She really is kind.

"She doesn't, that's why she was talking to Davis at the party yesterday, he wants to have partial ownership. But he'll just make Raintree like Davis Farms, and it won't be a real farm anymore, so I've been trying to persuade Jean not to sell."

"Then why did you buy Wildfire?"

"What? How do you know about that?" Pablo asked, surprised at my sudden knowledge of the horses ownership.

"I had to make sure Wildfire went to a good home, so Junior took me down to the stable and they said he was sold to Raintree. Why didn't you just tell me?" I asked, wondering this question since I found out about Wildfire.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." He explained while leading me to where Wildfire was kept.

"I can't believe I didn't notice Wildfire in here."

"I made sure to keep you out of this barn, I only had you clean the other one, you'll be cleaning both from now on."

"Great… So why did you buy Wildfire anyway?"

"Honestly, I saw potential in him for a racehorse when you were riding him. Told Jean about it, and she figured she'd give it a shot. Maybe you could be his exercise jockey, since the two of you get along so well."

"That'd be great! Thanks Pablo," I said, smiling from ear to ear, I couldn't help it, this was one of the greatest things anyone's ever done for me. I love Wildfire, and now I get to seem him everyday, and get paid for it. I'm just so glad I met Pablo "You're the best!" I cheered, pulling him into a huge hug, it took him a second, but he finally hugged back.


	7. Chapter 7

Aw, finally Saturday! I thought as I rolled over to check the time, only seven. Well, I guess I'm just used to waking up early, and I probably don't want to get use to sleeping in either. So I got up, staying in my tank and underwear this time and drank some milk out of the carton. I'm so glad that I have all Saturday off, it was my only full day off, and Pablo said they may need help if they're short staffed sometimes, but it was still nice knowing the day will mostly be mine.

I didn't have a TV or anything to keep me occupied, so not working was actually kind of boring, especially since the only people I knew around here were Pablo, the Ritter's, and Junior, and I didn't have a cell phone to call Junior on, like he'd be up already on a Saturday anyways. I decided to walk over to Pablo's and see if he was up yet. I just pulled on a pair of short shorts, not bothering to change my shirt. Then as I was leaving my trailer I remembered that Pablo worked on Saturdays, he basically worked everyday. So I thought I'd visit Wildfire, we had a lot of catching up to do, so I ran back inside my trailer and grabbed a carrot that I happened to have and jogged over to the stable he was staying in.

I did the whistle that I always did to call for Wildfire and he immediately stuck his head out of his stall, such a smart guy. I went over and gave him the carrot.

"Did you miss me? Cause I missed you. I'm so glad that Pablo got you, and now I can ride you all the time." I smiled, talking to the horse that was my best friend. I know he was just a horse, but we understood each other. We knew how others perceived us; how they thought we couldn't be tamed, but look at us now. Wildfire's training to become a racehorse, and I'm going to help. We'd come a long way from Camp LaGrange days, which was only three days ago.

"You can ride him if you want" Pablo said from across the barn, startling me.

"Yeah? Now?"

"Yep, you'd probably wanna put some pants on though." He said, eyeing my shorts as he walked closer.

"Alright! Thank you again for bringing him here."

"Like I said, I saw potential in him, just like I saw in you."

"We're a lot a like I guess. I'm going to go change," I said, running back towards my trailer, unable to contain the smile on my face.

Until I rammed straight into someone as I was running towards my trailer, "Oh sorry," I laughed, and looked up to realize that it was Matt.

"No. It's fine, don't worry about it." He said, flirtatiously smiling at me. God, get over it Matt. "Where you running to in such a hurry?"

"I have to put some pants on so I can ride Wildfire."

"Oh. Pablo told you then?" He asked, looking sad because he wasn't there for the surprise.

"No, not really, I found out on my own. I was worried about who Wildfire was getting sold to so I had Junior drive me down to the stables and they told me that Raintree Farms bought him." I explained.

"Junior took you?" Matt asked, looking hurt.

"Yeah, he came here to find you, and I needed a ride, so it just kinda worked out that way. Anyways, I better get going, I haven't rode Wildfire in a while!" I said with a smile, thinking about riding him finally.

"Yeah, sure, of course. Go change." He stammered, still looking hurt and confused.

Once I finally reached my trailer I yanked the door open, I never locked it, and grabbed the closest pair of pants I could find, shoving them and my brown baseball cap on and pulling my hair up into a ponytail. Then I bolted out the door again, only to find Matt still there, waiting.

"So can I watch you ride? I've never seen you in action before," he joked "I bet Todd would want to watch too." He added, trying not to sound too eager.

"Sure I guess. I don't see why not" seriously, this was getting annoying, hopefully he just wants to watch a friend ride.

"Meet you over there then? I'm going to get Todd."

"Kay."

Once I finally broke away from Matt I bolted over to the practice track that they had where Pablo was waiting for me with Wildfire.

"Sorry it took so long. Matt stopped me and asked me a bunch of questions." I explained.

"Kris. You were only gone for like five minutes, it's fine."

"I'm just excited is all, been awhile since I've ridden him." I said, half smiling.

"Well, hop on then. Take it slow at first, to get him warmed up."

"Of course" I said, while mounting Wildfire. I then led him to the start of the track and began to trot, slowly picking up into a gallop. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Matt, Todd, and Henry arrive. It was kind of nerve racking riding in front of people who've been around horses all there lives, while I've only been around them for six months. Once I went around the track a few times Pablo told me I could pick up the pace if I wanted, I did.

I loved the feeling I got when riding Wildfire, the wind through my hair, the connection the two of us had to one another, the speed; kind of like driving a car, but more personal. I noticed Jean join the group of people and I immediately quickened the pace, wanting her to see what a good investment Wildfire was, and boy was he proving it. I'd never seen him go this fast, he must realize that it actually serves a purpose now. What a show horse!

When I did a few laps at maximum speed I slowed down to a trot and went over to where Pablo was standing. "How was that?" I asked while hopping off, not sure if it was actually good, or just good for me.

"That was amazing!" Todd cheered while Matt just clapped and smiled. "You guys are practically ready for the race this weekend."

"I don't know about that." Pablo interjected. "Wildfire still needs some training, especially with a real jockey. Right now he only does that for Kris."

"Really? Well I bet if I'm around while someone else is riding, he'll feel more comfortable, we should try that." I said, coming up with the idea spontaneously.

"I agree." Jean finally spoke, "Kris would be a good training assistant for you Pablo, and she could warm the horses up. Maybe even eventually get here own Jockeys license." She suggested, smiling at me. Wow, that would be the best job ever, riding horses for a living.

"You really think I could be a jockey?" I replied, directing the question towards her and Pablo.

"If you worked hard. And finished school, you still need to graduate" he said with a smile, reminding me of my dumb education.

"Right. Well, is that it for today or should we do another go?" I asked, hoping he'd answer with the latter.

"You should go again, starting off like a real race this time, not with a trot, and Todd will time you. Okay?"

"Sounds great!" Yes! He answered with the latter. I hopped back on Wildfire, noticing a Porsche pulling into the drive. Why do I suddenly feel even more excited? It must be because I'm riding Wildfire. It's definitely not because Junior just got here. Focus Kris. Focus.

I steered Wildfire over to the starting position and waited for Todd's mark, while doing so, Junior stood by Matt, who glanced at him, then back at me. I noticed the way Junior was looking at me, Matt did too I think. It was the way you wanted a boy you liked to look at you. It was the way many guys looked at me, but with more than just lust, compassion too. Dammit. Why did I keep getting off track?

"Ready. Set. Go!" Todd chanted, starting the timer, and with that Wildfire and I were off. I think he liked to perform for an audience, and really show off how amazing he was.

"1:36! That was great!" Todd said, reading the stopwatch.

"Really?" I asked Pablo looking for affirmation.

"Yes, that's really good Kris!" Jean answered instead, which was just as good, if not better than Pablo saying so.

"Nice job Kris" Pablo smiled, "you too Wildfire" he said while stroking the horse as I got down. "I think that's enough for today, don't want to do too much right away. Enjoy the rest of your day off."

"Alright, but can I take him back to his stall." I pleaded.

"Of course you can Kris" Pablo replied. I began walking Wildfire to the stable, with Matt and Junior immediately following.

"That was some ride you and Wildfire had." Matt finally announced, not having said anything since we were by my trailer.

"Thanks. It was all him really." I admitted, it really was. Wildfire was the best horse ever.

"I can see why you loved him while you were at Camp LaGrange and were so worried about him." Junior added, hinting towards the day we spent together.

"Yeah. Thanks again for yesterday. It really helped me sleep knowing Wildfire was okay. Driving the Porsche was pretty nice too," I said, smiling as I remembered our fun time together.

"He let you drive? He never lets me drive" Matt said, jealous of both of us now.

"Well I practically forced him, but he drove home."

"Only because I knew the way to the restaurant," he joked, "otherwise you wouldn't of let me."

"You had lunch too?" Matt asked, his words sounding more and more hurt.

"Oh, yeah. We should all go again today. Dani too." Junior suggested. "You guys should get to know each other better. My dad told her about the whole juvie thing already though, which of course only added fuel to her 'I hate Kris' fire, but I put in a good word though." He smiled.

"Juvie? You were in juvie?" Matt questioned in shock.

"Jean didn't tell you?" I said, surprised she told Ken Davis but not Matt.

"Why would she tell my dad and not you?" Junior asked, wondering the exact same thing as me.

"Why were you in juvie?"

"She killed someone" Junior said with a straight face, I followed along, "but it was really more of a self defense type thing, and since she was a minor when it happened, the charges weren't too bad. Plus she had really good behavior, from sleeping with the guards and all." Matt looked confused, and we just burst out into laughter.

"Juniors just kidding," I explained, glancing over at Junior and giggling, "The real reason I was there was because my ex-boyfriend sorta tricked me into steeling a car for him and his friends to scrape for parts. But I had it coming, hanging with that crowd and all. I only was there for six months, so it wasn't that bad." I explained, still chuckling at what Junior said.

"Oh. I'm surprised my mom hired you after being in juvie." Was all he had to say.

"Why? Because I made one bad decision in my life? Do you really think I should be judged off of that forever?" I questioned angrily, Matt was the first person around here to find out and have any form of judgment, at least to my face. Even Ken Davis was fairly cool about it.

"I don't mean that. I just mean. Well, you know what I mean."

"I think what he means is that he didn't realize his mom was so cool," Junior laughed, saving his friend as we finally reached the stable.

"Exactly. My mom just surprises me sometimes. I didn't mean to offend you." He said with real sincerity as I put Wildfire into his stall.

"I understand. Lunch?" I asked, pushing aside what he commented and suddenly realizing I hadn't eaten yet and I was starving.

"I'll text Dani to meet us all there, you can drive the Porsche again if you want, Kris." Junior said, obviously trying to get on my good side.

"If you insist." I said, catching the keys as he threw them to me, Matt didn't look pleased.

"Shotgun!" He yelled, trying to save the drive over for himself.

"Yeah right, my car, my rules. I sit shotgun." And with that, Junior and I sat in the front and Matt squeezed into the small back seats, at least it was a convertible and he had headroom.

"So…Has Dani completely written me off, or is there some hope for us to get along?" I smiled to Junior, and then quickly changed my gaze to the road.

"Well, as long as you keep away from Matt, I'm pretty sure there's a chance. She's not that bad really, once you get to know here. Just a little bratty." Junior said, staring at me the whole time. "Turn here" he added, pointing towards a dirt road, "I know you wanna lay it out." He laughed.

"Really?!" Going fast was the best adrenaline rush there was, sex was pretty good too though, but driving cars and riding horses was way less complicated.

"Just don't crash."

"Seriously Junior. You don't even let me drive and you're going to let her go as fast as she wants?" Matt said, now jealous of me instead of Junior.

"Please, Matt. She's a trained motorist, I mean her boyfriend steels cars for a living" Junior joked, making fun of Win.

"EX-boyfriend" I added.

"Right. Anyway, she use to drive fast all the time with him, she can with me too" he said with a wink.

"Hold on," I accelerated. 60…75…80…100…115…120, that was my limit, I don't want to get too confident and wreck Junior's car and any chance I had with him. Once I got going fast for a while I slowly decelerated and stopped at the side of the road, waiting for directions to the restaurant.

"Damn girl," Junior cheered, "you can really drive! Just take this right up ahead."

"That was fun Kris!" Matt added awkwardly from the back and I just nodded. I kinda felt bad for him; he was like the third wheel. But he had Dani, who we were meeting up with soon, not to mention our dating would never work, and the fact that I didn't have feelings for him in that way. I continued to follow Juniors directions until we ended up in the parking lot of the Arctic Freeze, mmm, yum. I've worked at places like this before, and I've seen how he food's made. But I'm starving, so I don't really care.

"Nice of you guys to finally show up." Dani greeted from the table her and Angela were sitting at. "Thought you'd forgotten that you were meeting us for lunch" she said, staring daggers into Junior.

"Oh Dani, you're impossible to forget. We just got caught up in watching Kris ride Wildfire," he said, switching his gaze to me, "she's brilliant."

"I'm really not that good," I argued, not wanting Dani to get the wrong idea, "it's all Wildfire."

"I wouldn't say that, it takes two" Matt winked.

"Whatever, let's just order." Dani said, angered by Matt's obvious affection for me.

Once our food came, things started to ease up a bit, Dani and I discovered our shared love for horses, and I think she realized my lack of reciprocated feelings for Matt. The check came, and Junior took care of it, "How about we get out of here," he whispered in my ear while taking his change, "Matt can catch a ride with Dani and Angela."

"Only if I can drive." I whispered back.

"You've got yourself a deal," he smiled "so Kris and I are out of here, we'll see you guys later." He said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door as I managed to say my goodbyes to the others.

"Well Matt didn't look too happy about our abrupt departure," I laughed as we got into the car.

"Yeah…but Dani certainly seemed to enjoy it, I noticed that you two were actually getting along. The cold shoulder you're giving Matt is really paying off I think." Junior joked, even though it was true.

"I feel bad, but Matt seriously can't take a hint. Actually, I didn't even hint, I straight out told him I didn't and couldn't like him that way, and I just wanna be friends. He's the one making things awkward for everybody. I hope today finally showed him that and he'll move on."

"Well I think I know something we could do to make him realize you're not interested" he flirted, raising his eyebrows and leaning in close to me.

"Nice offer, but I'm not looking to be with anyone right now. I'm just going to focus on my job and staying out of trouble." I mustered up, struggling to deny the obvious chemistry between us.

"Whatever you say Furillo" he laughed, noticing the lack of confidence in my response.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Wow, thanks for the reviews everyone! That was really quick. Also thank you to Samantha for the suggestions! I'm sort of exploring Kris and Pablo a bit, just to set things up, but Kris and Junior are definitely going to happen soon, I loved them together! Here's the next chapter, thanks -Z**_

The next day was rough, Pablo had me and some of the other farm hands rebuild the fence around the practice track, which is huge, and then I still had to clean out all the stables, move the hay order inside, and feed the horses. Luckily, I had riding Wildfire to look forward to, making the work go by faster, and Junior stopped by at lunch. I'm pretty sure his main goal was just to annoy me though because all he did was poke fun at my dirty appearance from working all day. God it was embarrassing how much I was sweating.

"So I was thinking we should go out," Junior said to me after taking a break from teasing me.

"Were already outside" I joked, being fully aware of what he really meant by that proposal.

"I mean on a date" he said, keeping eye contact with me, making sure I knew he was serious, "there's this pretty fun place downtown that we like to go to, called Karma, it's kinda like a club/dance place. If you're interested." I smiled, noticing he was a little nervous asking me to go out with him, but I still wasn't sure, I mean I like Junior, but I'm not ready for a boyfriend and I'm not sure if he's the kind of guy I should be going for when I am.

"I don't know Junior," I said apprehensively "I'm just kind of focusing on myself right now." I mustered, trying to let him down easy; I did actually like him after all.

"Oh," I could hear the disappointment in his voice, that obviously wasn't the answer he was expecting, "that's alright, it was just an idea" he added, trying to brush off my rejection.

"But maybe once I'm a little more situated into this new life we can re-evaluate" I said with a smile, trying to show that I really was just not ready for that.

"Yeah, sure. I gotta go though, see ya later." His face was smiling, but I could see the hurt in his eyes.

"Okay" I whispered as he walked towards his car. That was not how I wanted things with him to go today. "Well I guess it's time to get back to work" I mumbled to myself, dreading the next few hours of work I still had to do before I could ride Wildfire.

Once you get past the smell, and the idea of scooping up huge clumps of horseshit, cleaning out the stables isn't too bad. I mean it's better than being out in the beating sun lifting extremely heavy things. After my encounter with Junior the workday went by extremely slow though. All I could think about was how much I wanted to go back and say yes. But I know I made the right choice in turning him down. Now I just had to try and forget about him and figure out a way to blow off some steam and have a little fun. It had been ages since I'd done that, six months to be exact. But this time I would be sure that the fun was legal. Lost in thought I walked over to the stable Wildfire was staying in and took him out so I could ride him and I noticed Pablo walking over to where I was; maybe he knew fun things to do around here.

"Hey Pablo" I said as he approached.

"I was thinking that once you're done feeding the horses you could be done for the day." He said with a subtle smile.

"Okay, great!" I replied enthusiastically. He started to retreat back to his house so I ran up behind him , "Hey, so do you know anything fun to do around here. I haven't been anywhere but juvie and stables for the past 6 months" I sighed.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I guess I know a few places," he muttered, obviously caught off guard by my question. "What kind of place were you thinking?" He said, rubbing the back of his neck while staring into the setting sun, squinting.

"I don't know, just somewhere to blow off some steam. You know let loose," I smiled and gave him a nudge, not quite sure whether or not Pablo knew how to do either of those things.

"Uh, yeah I guess there's this club kinda place, it's not really my thing, but I went their once. You might like it, it's called Karma." He said, obviously a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, yeah. Junior mentioned that place. Do you maybe want to go? You can have a beer and I can have a Shirley Temple," I teased.

"I don't think so," he said, squinting into the distance and rubbing his head.

"Please Pablo, you're like my only friend here, and I haven't been out in months, come on! Please" I begged, holding my hands together and pouting my lip.

"One beer." He said with a stern look, but I could see that he was a little happy that I asked to hangout, Pablo really was the only friend I've had since before Juvie.

"I'll come to your door around 7 then?" I asked, not wanting to go too late, it was a Monday, and we had work in the morning.

"Sure." He nodded and went on his way to his little house at the end of the drive. 7 o'clock, that gives me two hours to get ready. No one here has really seen the Kris Furillo that I used to be before I went to juvie, I used to help out at a club my mom worked at, and I would have to dress pretty girly and sexy to get good tips. I guess I like wearing jeans and t-shirt more, not having to worry about what my hair looks like, or whether or not I took a shower. But it is nice to dress up a little every now and then and have some fun. I didn't have much in the way of clothes though; just a few things I got to bring from camp, which were mainly simple clothes and Jean's old stuff Henry had given me the other day. I looked through the bag of things and realized she had pretty nice style. A dress was what I landed on, not a frilly one like I wore to the festival on Friday, it was a little more sexy, I was honestly surprised Jean had something like that in her wardrobe, but I guess she was a teenager once too. It was short, black, and tight, but still elegant and pretty, perfect for tonight. I wasn't dressing like this to impress Pablo or anything. I just thought it would be fun to do something different. I still only had two pairs of shoes, and the only kind I would even think about buying would be some rubber boots for working in the stables. So I chose to wear my converse because they didn't have mud on them like the sneakers, since I'd been wearing them for work.

Now that I'd chosen what to wear and laid it out nicely on my bed, I decided to take a shower and wash my hair, all the work today had made me pretty dirty, and I smelled kinda like horseshit. After my shower I dried off my body and threw my hair in a towel. It was only 5:30 at this point so I decided to lay down for a bit, so I put on a black bra and underwear and lied on the little couch. I felt like I could fall asleep, it'd been such a long day, and my body was still adjusting to all the manual labor. But I knew I'd just have to get up in 30 minutes to blow dry my hair and put on some makeup. Maybe going out tonight was a bad idea and I should just wait till Friday night, but I already asked Pablo, and I really want to, so I guess I will.

Just as I was about to knock on Pablo's door, it swung open and he was there, I guess he saw me walking across the drive. "Hi" he said, nodding at me, and then glancing me over, yet again probably surprised by my more put together appearance.

"Hello," I smiled and repeated the once over he gave me. He looked nice, in a simple plaid button down, jeans, and a pair of fancier looking cowboy boots, exactly what he usually wears, but clean, like they hadn't been worn to work on a farm. "You look very clean," I stated, not knowing what else to say.

"You too," he smiled as he left his house and locked the door behind him. He then led me to his truck and opened the door for me.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever had anyone open a door for me before," I giggled when Pablo got into the car.

"You must not hang around any gentlemen then," Pablo joked.

"Definitely not, I don't think there are any of those in Chino," I replied, kinda jokingly, but mostly serious. Pablo didn't say anything in reply he just started the engine and began to make his way out of the driveway.

When we got to the club I noticed a silver Porsche in the lot and couldn't help but think that it was Junior's. I caught myself looking over what I was wearing, hoping that Junior was here so he could see the sexier side of me. I then tried to push those thoughts out of my head when Pablo came over to my door and opened it for me, this was starting to feel like a date, which was not what I intended, I liked Junior after all, not Pablo, at least I thought that's how I felt.

"So one beer and then were leaving." Pablo said to me, making sure I remembered his deal.

"And one dance too!" I cheered, pulling on his hand, leading him to the door.

"Woah, woah, woah. I never agreed to dancing Kris." He said, stopping in his tracks at the mention of dancing.

"Pleeease..." I begged with puppy dog eyes.

"How about I sit and watch your purse while you dance?" He compromised.

"Fine, but once you see my amazing moves you won't be able to resist!" I joked.

"Sure, sure." Was all Pablo replied to me as we entered the club. It was a bit fancier than the ones I've worked at or been to over the years, probably because this part of California is a bit more upper class than where I'm from. But it still had the same basic principles; bar, tables, dj, and dance floor! I couldn't wait to get out there and let loose.

"I love this song!' I yelled to Pablo as I pulled him along.

"How about I go get you that Shirley Temple and you go dance" Pablo replied, taking my purse and walking over to the bar. He was so nice.

Once I found a spot on the floor the song had already changed, but luckily it still had a good beat and I began to dance around, not caring that I was probably awful. I closed my eyes and let the rhythm run through my body, but suddenly I felt someone standing really close behind me. Great, just what I needed, some creep trying to rub up against me, but then he placed his hands over my eyes and whispered in my ear, "Guess who?"


	9. Chapter 9

"I knew you'd want to dance with me once you saw my moves!" I joked, thinking that it was Pablo behind me.

"Who wouldn't want to dance with you," Junior replied as I turned around, "your beautiful." I couldn't help but smile, happy and surprised that it was him

"Thanks" I said glancing at my feet, suddenly feeling shy for the first time in my life.

"So I thought you didn't want to date or go out, but I see you came with Pablo, and now I'm starting to think you were just making excuses" Junior teased. At that moment I realized I really did like Junior, a lot, and Pablo was just a friend or brother, a mentor really.

"We just came as friends, I needed to get my mind off of, things." I explained, glancing up at Junior to find him staring at me. The things I needed to stop thinking about were my feelings for him, but that was impossible now with him looking at me that way.

"Good, cause I really don't like feeling jealous, and when I saw you walk in with him I thought my heart was going to explode." Junior said with a laugh, grabbing his heart in emphasis. I literally had butterflies because of this boy I'd only known a few days, I couldn't understand the feeling at first, but now I knew for sure.

"So are you going to ask me to dance then?"

"But what about Pablo?" Junior asked, motioning to Pablo ordering us drinks at the bar.

"He doesn't dance. Plus he feels the same way about me that I feel about him." I smiled, letting him grab my waist. At that moment a slow song came on and we started to sway together. I rested my head on his shoulder and I let my mind relax and just be happy for a minute. But then I remembered that I came with Pablo and it was really rude of me to just ditch him for Junior, he was my friend, my boss actually. After the song ended I told Junior that, and he looked disappointed, but I think he understood. "I just need to hang out with Pablo for a bit, but he didn't want to stay long, so maybe we can dance some more after he leaves!" I said, hoping Pablo would be okay with that. I walked over to the bar, where Pablo was now drinking his beer, watching everyone on the dance floor. He really looked out of place.

"I see you ran into Junior" Pablo greeted, handing me my drink.

"Yeah, he kinda snuck up on me." I shrugged, kinda feeling bad.

"Well, I think I'm going to get going," he stated, setting the empty beer bottle down on the bar, "Junior can give you a ride home, right?"

"Yeah, are you sure? Cause we can hang out a bit, or I can leave with you if you want." I said, trying to be polite.

"This isn't really my thing," Pablo replied, glancing around the room, squinting his eyes like he always did when he was uncomfortable, "besides, you and Junior look like your having fun. Just don't get back too late, you still have to work in the morning, and I won't go easy on you if you're tired." He sternly said.

"Don't worry Pablo," I laughed, "thanks for bringing me," I said as I hugged him goodbye. And with that Pablo was gone, and I felt liberated now because I could dance with Junior as long as I wanted, without feeling guilty. I finished the drink Pablo ordered me and went back out on the dance floor to find Junior.

"So Pablo left," I said to Junior.

"I saw that. So where were we?" He flirtatiously replied, rewrapping his arms around my waist, and I put mine around his neck, looking off to the side, trying to hide my humongous smile. I didn't understand, no guy had ever made me feel this way before, not even Win and I thought I loved him. Even as a fast song played we just swayed back and forth, not caring that we weren't going with the music. I don't know how many songs we were like that for, because I was just lost in the happy feeling I had. But eventually I came back down to earth and knew that I probably had to go home and get some sleep.

"Hey" I smiled up at Junior.

"Hey" he simply replied, staring into my eyes.

"I know this is lame, but I have work in the morning and should probably get going." I sighed, not wanting this moment to end.

"That's understandable. How about I take you home. But only if you agree to go out with me again." I smiled, thinking those were easy conditions. "But this time we'll actually go out, not just run into each other while your with someone else. I'll show you what a real Junior Davis date is like." He joked, still seeming slightly jealous of Pablo, which was ridiculous.

"I think that sounds fair," I teased. "Let's go" I said, holding his hand, leading him to the exit.

When we got to Junior's Porsche he opened the door for me just like Pablo, which surprised me. Not because I didn't think Junior was a nice guy, but he just didn't seem like the type to open doors for his dates.

"Thank you," I whispered and smiled up to him as he helped into me down seat, something not even Pablo did, not that I needed the help. He just smiled down at me and walked over to the driver's seat. "So your place or mine," I joked just like he did the other day with me.

"Mine, but your not coming in," he laughed, mocking what I said to him.

"Ha ha." I said sarcastically. "But really though, how about you just take me home, I really do need to get to bed," I yawned, noticing the clock said 11:34. Wow, we danced for a really long time.

"Okay, Furillo. But sometime you need to see my house, and Davis Farms. I think you'd like it." He said starting the engine.

"Sounds like a plan." I said, shaking my head wondering what I've gotten myself into.

On the way back to Raintree Junior and I talked about a lot of things. Horses, past relationships, our favorite kind of food (mine was Mexican and his was pizza), what our plans for the future were (we both had none), and so on. Before I knew it we were pulling into the dirt drive at the farm. The lights in Pablo's house were off, and most of the lights in the Ritter's house were off as well. I guess people really do turn in early on a farm.

"So I guess this is it," I sighed, glancing over to Junior and then to my trailer. "I'll see you later then?" I questioned, hoping later meant soon.

"How about I walk you to your door?" Junior smiled, getting out of the car, walking over to open the door for me before I could agree, which I would of. We walked to the door of my small trailer hand in hand, without saying a word, just enjoying the silence and the feel of our hands interlocked. Once we got to my door we just kinda stared at each other, still holding on to each other's hands.

"So…" I whispered, wondering if Junior would kiss me. "I guess this…" I started to say before Junior leaned down and rested his hand on my cheek and pulled my face up to his. He gently placed his lips on mine, not trying to force anything. I returned the kiss, pulling him down a bit so I could sink into it. I didn't know it could feel this way to simply kiss someone, so passionate, and loving, like fireworks really were going off. How corny. I couldn't stop; I just parted my lips, allowing Junior's tongue to enter my mouth. If felt so right. Slowly my brain started to work again and I separated from Junior.

"Wow." Was all he could say, and I found myself at a loss for words as well.

"Yeah." I breathed, smiling at him. "I should probably go in now. I'd invite you in, but I'm afraid of what that would lead to," I quietly laughed, thinking about what it would actually lead to, smiling and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"That's okay. I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled, kissing me on the cheek. He then headed back to the car, and I just leaned against my door with a smile on my face, staring at the boy that made me feel things I'd never felt before.

 _ **So Krunior finally happened! I know it was kinda weird how she wanted to go with Pablo, but I just needed that to happen as a tool to get Kris to realize how much she really liked Junior, but not give in right away, cause let's face it she was a little bit stubborn in the series. Her and Pablo really are like brother and sister, and I might have Pablo and Jean get together, cause I always saw something there.**_

 _ **Anyways, thank you guys so much for the reviews, they keep me motivated! Especially the ones with your suggestions, they really help when I can't decide which direction to go in! I wasn't completely sure about this chapter, but I have an idea of what will happen next, so I'll try and update soon! -Z**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Here's chapter 10, I hope it's okay. Thanks again for the nice reviews and suggestions. -Z**_

I woke up the next morning and thought about how amazing my semi date with Junior was yesterday, and wondered if I'd see him again today like he said. It's not like I could go to him so it was up to him to come to me. I was pretty much stuck at the farm unless someone else drove me somewhere, which was kind of weird to be stuck at work all the time. What was even weirder was that I liked it. This was the greatest job I've ever had, and I've met some of the nicest people too.

After thinking about Junior for several minutes I finally drag myself out of bed and take a quick shower; once I get out I put on a t-shirt and some jeans and pull my hair up and put on my hat. I quickly eat some cereal and decide that the first thing I'm going to do today before I start work is see Wildfire. I was all out of carrots though so I just left my trailer and started walking towards the stable where we keep Wildfire. Right when I opened the door to leave, I noticed Matt step out of the Ritter's house at exactly the same time, almost as if he was watching me. But I just kept on my path to the stable and ignored the fact that he was jogging in my direction.

"Hey Kris," he yelled from several feet away, waving as he picked up his pace a little.

"Hey Matt," I said with a touch of annoyance in my voice, trying to be as kind as possible though. He was a really nice guy, and most importantly the bosses kid. "What are you doing up so early? It's 5:45." I asked.

"I like to go for a run in the morning," he explained and I noticed his sweats and running shoes.

"That's nice. I was just going to see Wildfire." I said, feeling slightly awkward, especially now that I was kinda dating Junior.

"Cool. So I saw you leave with Pablo last night and then come home with Junior." He stated bluntly, he must've been spying on me, or something. Come to think of it I did see just one light on in the Ritter house last night, it must've been him. "What happened?"

"Oh," I started, thinking about what to say, it really was none of Matt's business. But I did want to be friends with him, "Pablo and I went to Karma, just so I could get out for a bit, as friends of course, and then we ran into Junior. Pablo wanted to go home and I wanted to dance a bit so Junior ended up taking me home. That's pretty much it." I said, skipping the parts where Junior and I kissed and I practically fell in love with him.

"Well next time you guys will have to invite me and Dani, we like to dance too," He said a little unconvincingly, but I'm glad he at least mentioned Dani.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Well I'll see you later Matt." I said with a wave and continued on my mission to see Wildfire before I had to start work.

Once I started getting closer to Wildfire's stall I noticed that it was empty, which was odd since it wasn't even 6am yet, who could of taken Wildfire out? Then I spot Wildfire, Pablo, Jean and some other man out on the practice track. What is going on, this is weird. I decide to make my way over there to investigate. I couldn't help but worry that something was wrong with Wildfire, or they we're going to sell him or something, things were just going too well for them to continue on like this.

"Kris!" Pablo yelled, calling me over, I started to run, still thinking the worst. "Kris, this is David our new jockey. Things really aren't getting better around here and Jean and I have decided we should try and get Wildfire ready for the race this weekend. Do you think you could help out?" He asked.

"Of course!" I cheered, happy that Wildfire was getting a real chance at life, just like me.

I helped Pablo and the new jockey out with Wildfire till lunch and then I joined the other workers under a tree so I could eat the sandwich I made. While I'm taking a sip from my water bottle I see Junior's silver Porsche pull up and I can't help but get really excited, and my stomach starts doing somersaults. He starts walking my way and I stand up and meet him half way, too jittery to wait for him to come to me.

"Hi," was all I managed, I never felt so nervous around a boy before in my life.

"Hi," he returned, there was a bit of a silence and then Junior started again, "So I was thinking we should go on a date tonight. A real date, where I pick you up and everything." He grinned down at me.

"I think that sounds like a good idea," I returned a little too excitedly, so happy that he obviously feels the same way about me that I do about him.

"So I'll pick you up around 6:30 then?" he asked, and I just nodded and smiled.

The next four hours of work went by really slow all I did was clean the stables and feed the horses and work on random stuff around the farm. It wasn't hard work, but all I could think about was my date with Junior and wonder what we were going to do and more importantly, what I should wear. I started to finish up for the day when I saw Pablo clean up after giving a lesson to someone. I head over there to let him know I'll be gone tonight.

"Hey Pablo, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going on a date with Junior tonight, not that it's really any of your business, I just figured someone should know I was gone so no one got worried." I explained, hoping it wasn't weird for me to tell him my plans.

"Okay, thanks for telling me." He replied. "You know, I think you and Junior seem good together, and I'm happy for you."

"But?" I questioned, sensing that wasn't all he had to say.

"But I just don't want you getting into any kind of trouble. You're still on probation and I vouched for you with Jean, so I don't want to look bad. Okay?" He questioned.

"Okay" I smiled, thinking it was funny how much he worried about me, he was worse than my brother.

After my talk with Pablo I headed to my trailer to take a shower and figure out what I was going to wear on my date with Junior tonight. First I take my shower so my hair has time to dry and then I put on my makeup. I still didn't have a ton of options for clothes, since I don't get paid till this Friday and haven't gotten to go shopping. But I was tired of wearing dresses, cause although they were nice every now and then, they really weren't my style, and I wanted to be me tonight. So I chose my nicest and cleanest pair of jeans, they were a bit more tight fitting than the one's I wear to work and I search through the stuff Jean gave me looking for a blouse I saw earlier, it was chocolate brown with lighter brown crystals on it with spaghetti straps, perfect for a hot night like tonight. After digging around a bit I found it but it was wrinkled from being on the bottom of all the other clothes. I really wanted to wear that shirt though so I decided I was going to have to find an iron. I first went to Pablo's but obviously he didn't have an iron. So then I tried Jean's house, she must have an iron. I hadn't actually been inside the house yet, not sure if it was appropriate, but this seemed like as good a time as any, it would be weird to never go in there at all. I knock on the side door leading into the kitchen because I could see Jean in there making dinner.

"Hi Kris, you look very pretty. Something special going on tonight?" She asked, opening the door and stepping back so I could come in.

"Uh, yeah, actually I have a date." I stuttered, feeling slightly uncomfortable, not knowing if she would be okay with me dating her son's friend.

"Well that was quick, of course you are a very beautiful young lady, so I'm not surprised. It must be with someone I know then, since you haven't really gotten a chance to meet anyone, right?" Well here it goes I thought.

"Um…yeah I'm going with Junior Davis." I said with a pause waiting for Jean's response.

"Well I'm sure that'll be nice, I'm just glad it's not with Matt." She laughed. Phew! I'm glad she didn't care about Junior and me. "Oh, is that my old blouse?" She said, with a happy surprise.

"It sure is, I was planning on wearing it tonight, it's so beautiful!" I said, praising Ms. Ritter's style.

"I used to wear that all the time when I was younger, I'm glad it's being put to good use now."

"That's actually why I'm here, it was on the bottom of all the stuff Henry gave to me and it got a little wrinkled. I wouldn't have bothered you late at night but I don't have an iron and neither does Pablo and I was wondering if you do?"

"Of course. You can come over here anytime for anything Kris; don't feel like you should try and keep your distance, this is a family farm after all." Jean answered with a smile and started leading me to a room in the back with a washer and dryer. "Now I know the trailer doesn't have a washer and dryer either so you can use ours or Pablo's, which ever you're more comfortable with or is more convenient. So here's the iron, just make sure to turn it off when you're done." Jean said.

"Thank you so much Jean, you really are such a kind person to welcome me into your business and home." I said while turning the iron on.

"Of course Kris. And I just want to apologize again for not being this way from the get go, I was just looking at your record, not you as a person."

"That's okay, you at least changed your point of view, most people don't." I sighed, thinking about the kind of job I would have had to get if it weren't for Pablo and Jean.

"Well that's a shame. I guess I'll leave you to it then, I better get back to fixing dinner." She left and I started to iron the blouse, making sure to get every wrinkle out without burning anything. Once it was all smooth I turned the iron off and went back to the kitchen to leave.

"Good night, thanks again Jean," I said with a wave.

"Night Kris, have a good time on your date."

I got back to my trailer and finished getting dressed, I thought about curling my hair and then decided against it, going for the more natural look with just a few strands of my hair in front pulled back with a barrette. I looked over myself in my small mirror and decided that it was the best I could do with what I had and just sat on my couch, looking out the window for Junior to come. I glanced at the clock, which read 6:23, and I sighed, feeling impatient. Then I suddenly noticed a silver car pull up to the house and I saw Junior get out. He looked nice, but not too fancy, which was good since I wasn't either. He just wore a dark blue button down and some nice jeans. His hair was styled the same way as always and I could see his smile from here, it was so beautiful. In his hand I saw a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and I almost died then and there. No boy had ever bought me flowers before, which was sad, but true and Junior Davis was becoming more and more perfect every second that past.

But then something I didn't anticipate happened, Matt came out of his house and started walking towards Junior with purpose. Oh no, I knew things were too good to be true. I really hope that Matt just wants to talk about friend stuff and not the fact that Junior brought me home last night and was now here with flowers, obviously to pick me up for a date. The two started to talk but it was too far away to really see what was happening. I couldn't decide if I should just wait here until they were done talking, or go out there and find out what's going, so I just sat there going over my options. After the conversation was still continuing for what seemed like ages I decided I should just go out and face the music. So I got up and exited my trailer, making my way towards the two best friends that hopefully weren't arguing about me.


	11. Chapter 11

I finally reached Junior and Matt to find them talking, not fighting, which I was very happy about. Junior was telling Matt that he shouldn't be hurt by us being together because he doesn't even know me and he already is dating his sister. Exactly what I said to him, but now he looked like he was actually listening to Junior, which he never did for me. But once Junior finished talking, it seemed as if Matt came out of his pretend listening stage and into his angry stage. Great.

"Whatever." Matt huffed to Junior. "If you guys want to be together that's fine" he continued with a bit of anger, "I just think it's weird since Kris works for my family and everything." He said, creating an excuse for why he was still upset about it.

"And what, it would be different if you dated her." Junior replied. "That would be even weirder Matt!" he said with a raised voice. "This is so stupid. You're my best friend, you should be happy that I've found someone, you know what it's been like for me since Laura and I broke up and now I'm finally in a good place and you have to make things so miserable and uncomfortable." Junior finished in one breath. Wait. Who was Laura, he's never mentioned her before.

"I'm sorry Junior, we can still be friends, I just can't support this relationship." Matt said, ending the conversation. Junior just grumbled something to his self and handed me the flowers.

"Here Kris, I got these for you. Can we just get out of here?" He said, with a slight smile forming on his face when he looked at me.

"Sure, let's go" I replied, rubbing his shoulder to try and comfort him. We got in the car, and Junior drove off immediately.

"I'm sorry Matt has to be such a baby about this. I seriously don't understand him sometimes. And I don't see why my sister doesn't just dump his ass, he always wants what he can't have." Junior said.

"It's fine. Let's just forget about him and have fun." I said, turning towards him and smiling, I wanted more than anything to make this fight go away. I'd hate to be the cause of a friendship ending. I decided to wait till later to ask about Laura, there was obviously a reason he didn't mention her to me yet. "So where are we going, I've been dying all day at work wanting to know."

"Can't say, it's a surprise." Junior said with a mischievous grin, raising his eyebrows.

"Seriously Junior, I need to know." I said, looking at him seriously, grabbing onto his right hand that was resting on the center console.

"Kris." Junior sighed, shaking his head from side to side. "We're already on the date, which means your going to find out any minute what we're going to do." He laughed at my curiosity and neediness.

"Fine, but it better be fun. We deserve it." I said, giving in and leaning back into my seat.

"I think you'll definitely enjoy it." He grinned, obviously having something up his sleeve. Making the anticipation even worse.

We continued driving in silence for about 10 minutes before Junior finally spoke.

"So, I know this is technically our first date, and usually it's the girl who always wants to know where things are going, but I mean is this going anywhere?" Junior suddenly asked out of the blue, catching me off guard.

"I really don't know Junior. We don't know each other well enough at this point for me to know where we're going. All I know is that I just got out of a bad situation. I mean juvie is about as bad as it can get for a seventeen year old girl." I laughed, thinking about how bad my life really was before I came here. "And now things are starting to go really good for me, and I just want to take things day by day. I need to get my life on track and that means it will probably be hard for me to be someone's girlfriend." I explained.

"That's okay with me." Junior replied to my rant with a smile, "I just like being around you Kris. Your fun and interesting and exciting and hilarious and beautiful and you've experienced parts of life that I haven't. I just want to show you what other parts of life there are and help you get everything you've ever wanted." He finished, glancing over at me for a response.

"Okay." Was all I had to say, he was seriously so sweet. I just smiled at him the rest of the way to wherever it was we were going.

After a few more minutes of driving Junior pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall, a weird place for a date. But I bet anything with Junior would be fun.

"Well were here," he cut the engine and laughed, noticing the confusion on my face.

"And where's here exactly? Which of these stores are we going to?" I questioned.

"The equestrian one of course," he answered. "I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing you were at riding Wildfire the other day and the smile that it brought to your face," he stated. "But I also could help but notice you were wearing work boots to ride him and jeans. Which are fine if your not looking to become a professional, but I think you could be really good and I would like to help make that happen." He said leaning over towards me, brushing a piece of hair behind my ear. "So let's go and get you some gear."

"Junior that's really sweet and all, but I don't like charity." I said, sort of embarrassed that he noticed my old works boots.

"It's not charity Kris, it's an investment in your future and a present. If you want I'll only buy you new riding boots today and then we can talk about the other stuff later." He said, maybe noticing my embarrassment.

"Fine, but not the most expensive ones, okay?" I agreed, actually wanting the boots.

"Whatever you say Furillo."

"Hello, welcome to the Equestrian Center, how may I help you?" The saleswoman greeted. I noticed her eyeing Junior, and I couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy, which was yet again another new feeling Junior Davis was making me feel.

"We're looking to get Kris here some new riding boots." Junior answered, putting his arm around me, making the woman's wondering eyes cease and my jealousy disappear.

"What style are you looking for?" She directed the question at me this time.

"Oh, I really don't know much about the different kinds actually. I've only just recently gotten into riding." I said, slightly embarrassed by my lack of knowledge.

"Well then we better start you off with a middle range shoe, just to get you started." She replied, not caring that I didn't know, she probably got that a lot.

"That sounds good!" I replied, glad that she didn't scoff at me.

"Sounds perfect, actually," Junior returned, smiling at me and following behind the lady and me over towards some really nice looking boots, they were way out of my price range, but luckily for me Junior was paying. I felt like a princess.

"These would probably work best, there our most popular style." She said showing me a pair of black and brown boots that looked absolutely perfect, I couldn't believe this was happening right now, I was just expecting dinner and a movie. "What's your size?"

"Seven and a half, sometimes eight." I said with a huge smile.

"I'll go get both then." She said, entering the backroom to get the shoes for me.

"Oh Junior, this is too much. You really don't need to, I was planning on getting boots once I got my first paycheck." I argued, even though I really liked the boots and couldn't afford them on my own, paycheck or not.

"We already discussed this Kris, and I'm getting you the boots." He smiled, and the lady returned with two boxes of boots.

"Here you go, try on both and walk around a bit to get the feel of them." I did as she said and decided the eight fit best. "Will that be all?" She asked, bringing the box up to the register.

"Well I guess she probably needs some new riding pants to go with these. What size are you Kris? Like a medium? Those ones over there look good, let's just throw those in too." He said, not giving me an option.

"No, Junior, we agreed just the boots today" I said, pulling his arm back from giving the lady his credit card.

"Kris, just let me get you the pants, okay?" I stared at him for a moment and finally nodded, not saying anything else. It was kind of annoying to have him go against my request, but sweet at the same time. Something I felt was going to be happening a lot in this relationship.

"Thank you" I said to the saleswoman as we left the store. "So is this all we're doing on our date?" I asked, perfectly fine with it if it was.

"Of course not!" he laughed, "you really think I just want to go shopping? We're going to dinner too, and if you're nice I'll let you come home with me." He joked, it sounded like a good offer to me though.

We pulled into a nice looking restaurant, probably the nicest I'd ever been too, and I suddenly felt a little underdressed, but I was basically wearing the female version of what Junior had on, so hopefully it was acceptable. Junior went up to the valet station and the attendant opened my door for me, which was still just so weird. I got out and Junior came around and took my arm, leading me to the door to the restaurant, which he opened for me.

"Thank you" I smiled.

"Anytime my lady" he teased. "Reservation for Junior Davis," he said to the hostess who immediately told us to follow her and we were seated at a secluded table in the back of the restaurant.

"Wow. This place is beautiful" I said in awe, noticing the twinkle lights strung all around the ceiling and the candles on all the tables.

"Yeah, I thought it would be a good place to be able to talk. Plus the food is spectacular." He cheered, lighting up at his own mention of food, he must be hungry, and suddenly I noticed I was starved as well.

"Well everything on the menu looks amazing," I said, fixing my eyes on the lobster ravioli, and then I noticed the price, "and expensive."

"Don't worry about it Kris," he sighed, "it's our first date, I'm paying."

"Okay," I gave in.

I ended up ordering the ravioli and Junior got the steak, we talked about lots of different stuff, but mainly about jockeying and how apparently Dani wanted to spend time with me now that he and I were dating. For dessert we split the chocolate cake and I began to think about what Junior joked about earlier.

"So have I been good so far, cause I think getting a tour of your house would be a nice end to the evening." I smiled at him.

"Yeah, I think you deserve it" he replied, signing the check and standing up to pull the chair out for me.

We didn't talk much on the drive over to Junior's house. Which was something I really enjoyed about him, we could sit and talk forever or say nothing at all and still have a great time. I noticed the Davis Farm's sign that led to a long drive after about 10 minutes of driving. The sides of the road had evenly spaced, perfectly kept trees that were flowering at the moment and flowers planted in between each tree. It was very beautiful. Once the long drive ended we pulled up to a huge, newly remodeled house and I could see some stables off to the right. Junior parked right in front of the house and got out of the car, coming over to open my door for me.

"It's probably too dark for a full tour of the property, but I can show you the house if you want." He said, which was probably best since it was around 10 o'clock now and I had work in the morning, like always.

"Fine with me!"

"Well here's the house," he said, unlocking the door, "this is the foyer, or whatever. Over there is the living room, there's a bathroom, round that corner is my dad's office, and a guest room. The family room is on the other side and here's the kitchen," he ended, stopping at the island in the middle of the room. He got me a glass of water and we talked a bit before Dani entered the room.

"Hello Kris," Dani smiled, actually seeming genuine. "You know, since your dating my brother now, I think it'd be good if we were friends. Most of the people around here are so boring and lame, so I could use a good friend."

"Yeah, that'd be good," I smiled; glad to make a female friend, I never really was good at that.

"We definitely need to go shopping before you and Junior go on another date too, I mean don't get me wrong that top is cute. But I'm sure you don't have a ton of clothes." She said, trying to save herself.

"That'd be great, we'd have to wait till I get paid though." I said, embarrassed yet again.

"Don't be silly, it'll be my treat." She smiled.

"Yeah, besides Kris, you're just helping to aide her shopping addiction." Junior laughed, teasing his sister.

"Alright." I said, not really wanting to turn down free clothes, plus it was obvious they were loaded from the size of their house.

"Well I'm going to finish giving Kris her tour" Junior said, giving his sister a warning glance. "Is dad still out of town?"

"Yeah, he is. I'll just be in my room." Dani replied, sticking her tongue out at her brother.

Junior showed me upstairs and we ended up in his room. I couldn't help but look up at him and get lost in his eyes. Before I knew it our lips collided and we slowly sat down on his bed and we kissed for a long time before I finally pulled away and told him we better stop.

"That's fine," he smiled, not seeming at all annoyed at my lack of wanting to get to physical too soon. "Can we just lay here for a bit though?" He asked, which was really sweet, I loved cuddling.

"Of course," I answered, lying down next to him as he wrapped his arms around me, and I slowly drifted off to sleep, forgetting about all of my new responsibilities.

 _ **Again guys, thanks for all of the awesome reviews. The fact that you guys like what I write puts such a huge smile on my face and makes me want to keep writing. I try and follow through with most of your suggestions (as long as they fit with the overall story) so keep them coming. Like always I'll try and update as often as possible. Thanks so much -Z**_


	12. Chapter 12

I woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee and the sudden realization that I wasn't in my own bed, Junior was lying next to me, and the clock read 6:37, which wasn't good for me since work starts at 7.

"Crap," I whispered to myself, jumping out of bed, still in my clothes from the night before. I didn't know whether I should wake Junior or not, he seemed like someone that slept in though, so I chose not to. I ran down stairs and was about to leave when Dani greeted me.

"Sleepover, huh?" Dani questioned, with a smirk on her face.

"Uh, yeah." I quickly answered and threw my hair into a ponytail, not really wanting to talk right now. Then I thought about how I was actually going to get back to Raintree. I mean sure, these are neighboring farms, but there's quite a bit of distance between them. "Do you think you could give me a lift back to Raintree?" I asked Dani.

"Of course, what are friends for," she smiled. "Plus you can tell me all about last night."

"Great…" I sighed.

Dani drove a black Escalade and it had me wondering why Junior had such a fancier car than her. Maybe their dad favored Junior.

"So?" Dani questioned, smiling at me once she started to drive.

"So what?" I replied, confused.

"How was your date with my brother? Was he super romantic?" She asked, seeming very curious about it.

"Yeah. I guess so." Was all I could think to reply, not sure if I was suppose to tell her about it or not.

"Seriously Kris, I want details. Junior has only ever been serious with about one girl before, and let's just say her and I did not get along." She laughed. Was this girl she was talking about the mysterious Laura Junior mentioned earlier in his argument with Matt? Maybe Dani could tell me.

"Okay, I'll give you details about our date. If you give me some details about this girl he was serious with. Deal?" I asked, and Dani smiled, obviously liking my compromise and curiosity.

"Deal. But you first."

"Well first he picked me up," I started, leaving out the part where him and Matt got into a fight. "And he brought flowers, then he took me to an equestrian store and bought me new riding boots and pants since I don't have any." I added.

"Nice, buying your affection, I love it." She laughed.

"Anyways," I continued shaking my head, "we went to a cute little restaurant after that, and we sat at a secluded table with twinkle lights and candles all around. Then we came back to your house, he gave me a tour and we fell asleep." I ended, this time leaving out all the kissing.

"That's it? You guys fell asleep?" Dani asked surprised.

"Well we kissed a little, but then I had to go to bed cause I had work in the morning. I still overslept though. By the way, could you tell Junior that I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye?"

"Yeah, sure," Dani answered whilst pulling into Raintree, her clock read 6:52. Yes just in time. "I'll tell you about Laura later." She added with a wave.

"Bye, thanks Dani!" And I rushed out of the car, glad that I had time to change into some work clothes and glad that I had a girl friend to talk to.

As I ran to my trailer I could see Pablo watching me, and I felt kind of bad. Although this didn't constitute as getting into trouble, it was a little embarrassing to be caught doing the walk of shame right before work. Once I got to my trailer I pulled of my clothes and grabbed the closest thing I could find to wear and slipped on my hat. After that I washed all the makeup from the night before off of my face, which wasn't much and slipped on my work boots. I quickly ate an apple so I could have something in my stomach and ran out the door.

I continued running until I got to where Pablo was standing by one of the stables and I came to a stop.

"Morning, Pablo," I said, trying to catch my breath and act as if everything were normal.

"Just in the knick of time," he laughed. "Okay, this hay order needs to be moved into the stable pronto, because it's supposed to rain later today. Then I'll need you to come over and help David and me with Wildfire, because he's still not reacting to anyone like he does to you. Okay?" I just nodded and started with the hay.

It took what seemed like forever to carry all of that hay inside the table, but I did it before it started to rain. I could however see rain clouds start to form and I hoped the rain wouldn't start until after I worked with Wildfire. As I walked over to where Pablo and David were already working, I could see that they were having a lot of trouble getting Wildfire to even allow David to sit on him, let alone ride him.

"Need some help?" I asked, sort of joking, when I got to the fence of the track.

"Obviously." The jockey said to me angrily. "This stupid horse won't do anything for me."

"Well first off I would start with not calling him stupid," I replied, stroking Wildfires nose, "and second you need to show him love and encouragement. And third you need to give him a reason to want to do something. Wildfire loves showing off. Maybe now that I'm here he'll want to show me what he's got. How about you try again." I finished, annoyed at this supposedly great jockey who didn't seem to even know how to work with horses.

Apparently all Wildfire needed was for me to be there, because he immediately started to allow David to ride him and he was going extremely fast. God I wish that was me up there.

"See?" I said, feeling proud of myself for helping.

After we worked with Wildfire for a couple hours I took a lunch break. I kept looking up from my sandwich, hoping that Junior would show up like yesterday, but no such luck. I wondered when I could see him again. I still didn't have a cell phone, and really no way of contacting him except for him coming to visit or running into him somewhere, which sucked. I wondered what he did all day. Maybe he slept in till 1 and just played video games. I had no idea. I didn't know much about him at all really, and all I wanted to do was get to know him. Then I saw a black SUV pull up and thought about how it would be nice to talk to talk to Dani for a bit about it, and maybe about Laura too.

I waited to see that it really was Dani parking in front of the Ritter's, it was. When she got out I waved at her and she started walking over, I got up and headed towards her too.

"Hey Dani," I greeted; excited I had someone besides the other workers to talk to.

"Hi Kris. I'm just meeting Matt; we're going to lunch. But I wanted to give you this." She said, handing me an invitation. "It's for my annual summer pool party, everyone's going." She smiled.

"Thanks Dani." I said, excited to have something to look forward to.

"Of course. So, maybe we can hang later, go shopping for a new swimsuit or something?" She asked,

"That'd be great. I don't have a phone for you to call me on, but I'm sure we can work something out." I said, yet again embarrassed.

"Sounds good. Well I gotta go," I saw Matt waiting for her by her car. "Bye!"

"Bye Dani." I waved, a little disappointed. "Oh Dani, wait!" I yelled, remembering to ask about Junior. "Did you tell Junior how I was sorry about leaving this morning?" I asked, really just wanting to know if he was awake yet.

"No, I haven't seen him yet this morning. I think he went to the club to play golf or something; I'm not really sure. But I'll make sure to tell him." She said, getting into her car.

"Okay, thanks." I said, walking back to where I was eating my lunch. I really needed to get an easier way to contact people.

After lunch I did my basic everyday stuff around the farm and then it started to rain and Pablo let everyone go home early. I had nothing to do though and since my home was here I almost wanted to just keep working. Once I got back into my trailer I cleaned things up a bit, hating having a mess. I didn't have much of anything to make a mess with though. I sat on my bed and started to think about all the things I'd need to buy once I got my paycheck in a few days. First I'd have to pay Pablo back for the food, then I'd need to buy some more food and after that I'd probably only have a little bit left. Hopefully enough to buy a cute bikini for Dani's party next weekend, since I didn't have one here with me. I wonder if maybe my mom would mail me some of my things. I mean she did agree to let me be here, so it's not like she's waiting for me to come home. Or maybe I could get someone to drive me down to Chino and I could get them myself, that'd probably be best. Maybe Pablo would, or Dani. I didn't really want Junior to go down with me.

I was awoken by the sound of someone knocking on my door. What time was it? I must have fallen asleep thinking about all the stuff I needed to do. And who was at my door? After contemplating whether or not I wanted to get up and answer it, I finally groaned and got up, swinging the door open hoping that it was Junior.

"Oh," I said, surprised at who I saw. "What are you doing here?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's another chapter! Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming. I love getting all of your suggestions! -Z**

"What are you doing here?" I asked Jimmy, a guy I used to hang with, and occasionally date when Win and I were fighting. "How did you know where to find me?"

"Hey Kris." Was all he replied, with the usual smirk he always had.

"Why are you here Jimmy?" I asked again, this time with more seriousness in my voice.

"Your mom told me you got out and I thought it'd be cool to come and visit." He replied, still smiling, "she gave me this stuff to give you too." He continued, handing me a bag of my things. "So can I come in?" He asked. I was at a loss for words, so I just opened the door wider and stepped back so he could enter. "Nice place." He said, looking around and assessing the place. I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Thanks." I said in monotone. "But really Jimmy, what are you doing here? I know you didn't just come to visit and bring me some stuff."

"You know my brother, Frankie, right?" I just nodded. "Well he's living in Texas now, working for our uncle doing construction. And I was thinking what a sweet gig that is, so I'm gonna drive down there. And since you're on the way I thought I'd stop in, maybe crash for a day or two and then be on my way." He said casually, like it wasn't a big deal that he was just inviting himself, unannounced.

"I don't know if you can tell, but my place isn't exactly huge, and I don't know if I'm allowed to have guests over." I said, mainly just not wanting him to stay.

"It's your place ain't it? And I can sleep on the couch," he said, "or in your bed if you think that'd be more comfortable." He joked.

"The couch will be fine. But only for one night." I warned, holding up my pointer finger in exaggeration of the one night thing.

"Thanks Kris. I knew you'd come through for me, just like old times." He said, pulling me into a hug. Hopefully not too much like old times though, I thought to myself, thinking of Junior.

I then heard another knock on my door, and this time I hoped it wasn't Junior, funny how things could change. I told Jimmy to sit down and make himself comfortable and I went to open the door. To my surprise, yet again, it was Dani and Matt, back from their date most likely. But I had no idea what they were doing here.

"Uh, hi guys." I greeted, not fully opening the door so they couldn't see Jimmy. I don't know why I felt the need to hide him. "What's up?" I asked.

"Well," Dani answered, as Matt stood behind her, looking slightly uncomfortable, as usual. "We just got back from our lunch date and thought maybe you'd want to hang out. But we saw someone was parked out front and we heard voices, so maybe this isn't a good time." She finished, trying to look around the door to see who was with me.

"That sounds great, but my friend from back home is actually visiting now, so maybe another time." I said, trying to get them to leave.

"Well can't we meet her?" Matt asked this time, assuming it was a girl and looking just as curious as Dani.

"Oh, I don't know if they'd want to do that, it's been a long day of driving down." I started to explain, but then of course Jimmy had to come and swing the door open.

"I'd love to meet Kris's new friends." He said, with all the charm he had. Both Dani and Matt looked surprised, most likely cause they probably thought he'd be a she, and he'd placed his arm around my shoulder. "Come on in," he added, inviting them in to my home.

"Great," was all I had to say to the awkwardness I was sure was about to commence.

Once all four of us were situated in my tiny trailer, with Matt and Dani on the couch and Jimmy and I sitting across from them at the table, Dani immediately mentioned Junior.

"So Kris, have you seen my brother at all today?" She questioned, more like interrogated.

"Um, no. He hasn't come to visit and I have no real way of contacting him." I answered defensively.

"Well you could always use the house phone." Matt interjected.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said, looking off to the side, hoping for a different topic. When no one said anything I decided it would be best if I controlled the conversation. "So Dani, I get paid on Friday, do you maybe want to go shopping on Saturday, that's my day off."

"I'll have to check my schedule." She replied coldly, still probably confused about Jimmy. I again decided to take control,

"Jimmy's a friend from back home, he's just stopping through on his way to Texas to work with his brother." I explained, hoping that would lighten the mood.

"What does your brother do?" Matt questioned.

"Construction. My uncle owns a company. He makes pretty good money, and I just haven't been able to find much work in Chino, so I thought I'd give this a try. Kris was on the way and her mom gave me some stuff to bring to her, so here I am." He said, holding his arms out.

"Interesting," Dani said, lightening her town a little.

The conversation continued, mainly between Matt and Jimmy about construction and farm stuff. Dani then began to talk to me, agreeing that Saturday would work for her to go shopping. I was glad that she realized that Jimmy was just a friend, at least now. I didn't know if I'd tell her about his and my past relationship or not. If I did it would definitely be after I told Junior, if I told him at all. We talked for quite awhile when suddenly we heard a knock on the door. Now this was just strange, I never had visitors and suddenly they were coming in troops.

I opened the door and there stood the visitor I wanted in the first place.

"Hey Furillo, long time no see." He joked. "You sure ran off in a hurry this morning. Didn't even say goodbye," he teased, holding his heart, "and you left these" he said handing me the boots and pants he got me last night.

"Thanks," I smiled, "and I had to get to work and thought you needed your beauty sleep." I joked right back.

"Whose car's out front?" He then asked.

"That's Jimmy's. He's a friend from home, just stopping through on his way to Texas," I explained right off the bat this time, not wanting Junior to get the wrong idea. "He's inside right now. With Dani and Matt actually." I said, kind of laughing at the whole weird situation.

"Sounds like a party. Can I come in too?" He asked, jokingly.

"Of course!" I said, just happy to see Junior, it felt like ages since I had, even though I just saw him this morning.

"Junior's here," I said to Dani and Matt, "Jimmy, this is Junior. Junior, Jimmy." I said, gesturing between the two to introduce them.

"Nice to meet you," Junior said, holding his hand out to shake Jimmy's.

"You too man," he said, returning the shake and eyeing Junior over. "You Kris's new beau, or something?" He asked.

"I mean we've only been on one date, so nothing official or anything, but yeah, I guess so," Junior answered smiling down at me, and I smiled back, liking the idea of Junior being mine.

"Kris has always known how to choose 'em," Jimmy added, "right Kris?" he said, nodding at me.

"I don't know about that," I laughed, thinking about how every guy I ever dated before Junior was actually pretty lame. "But I think I'm getting the hang of it now." I said, continuing to smile at Junior.

"Well I think Kris and my brother are absolutely perfect together. I mean, their babies would be adorable." Dani said, adding herself to the conversation. I just laughed awkwardly, along with Junior, not wanting to think about all that just yet.

"So Jimmy, you staying the night then?" Junior asked, changing the subject from us.

"Yeah, I mean, I had to talk her into it, but Kris said I could crash on the couch for the night." He laughed.

"Cool. Well Matt and I better get going, big poker game tonight. Right Matt?" Junior said, ending his conversation with Jimmy.

"Aw yea mean, I totally forgot!" Matt said, suddenly perking up at the mention of the game.

"Yeah, so we better get going, Bobby hates it when people are late." Junior added, kissing me on the forehead goodbye.

"How about I walk you out?" I suggested to Junior, wanting to have a moment alone with him. He just nodded and we left my trailer, with Matt and Dani following along. We walked to Junior's car and once we stopped he started talking.

"So this Jimmy guy?" Junior simply asked. "Should I be worried?" He continued, looking down at me with his arms around my waist. At that moment I decided I wanted to keep our relationship honest.

"There's nothing to worry about, Jimmy's just a friend." I answered, looking down. "Although, it wasn't always that way." I looked back up, hoping Junior didn't look upset. "We hooked up a few times when Win and I would get into fights. But that was a long time ago, and I never really liked him." I added.

"Okay. I trust you." Was all Junior had to say.

"Okay." I replied with a smile, leaning my head on Junior's chest. So far this relationship was going extremely well. Hopefully not too well, I thought.

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" Junior asked, and I raised my head, shaking it hard. He then leaned down, giving me a kiss goodbye and got into his Porsche. Matt then came over and got into the car with him, since they were going to the same place. And I waved goodbye, watching the boy of my dreams drive off.

"So, did you tell my brother that that guy is more than just a friend." Dani asked.

"How'd you know that?" I questioned.

"I could tell by the way you didn't want Matt and I to come in." She laughed.

"Yeah, I told him." I sighed.

"And he didn't freak?" Dani asked, shocked.

"No, he said he trusted me and then gave me a kiss goodbye." I said, now wondering if it was a bad thing that Junior was so calm about it all.

"Huh? Weird." Dani whispered. "Well I'll see you later." She waved.

"Yeah, later." I quietly said, lost in thought.

I went back into my trailer and Jimmy was reading a book. He was always the most scholarly of all my friends, which wasn't saying much.

"Want something to eat?" I asked him, feeling pretty hungry myself, pulling a frozen pizza out of the freezer.

"Sure." He said, continuing to read his book. He then looked up at me, "So these new friends of yours. Pretty different." Was all he said.

"Yeah, in some ways. In other ways not so much." I answered, putting the pizza in the oven. "So what have you been up to?" I asked him, curious about life back home.

"Honestly, after you got sent away it was kind of a reality check. You know? Like wow, that could've been me. So I got a job, and have been straight. But it's hard with all the influences. That's why I'm going to Texas to be with my brother." He said, and then paused for a bit, I just nodded my head, understanding completely. "That's why it's good you're here, starting over and everything." He added.

"Yeah," I replied, thinking the same thing.

Jimmy and I ate our dinner at the table and he told me what everyone was up to back home. My brother was still overseas, which I knew and my mom was still a drunken, pill popping mess, which I suspected. Nothing had really changed, except for me. Which was why I was glad I was here and not there. It was nice to see a familiar face though.

Jimmy and I played cards for a bit and then we decided to turn in, he wanted to get an early start in the morning and I had work. I went over to my bed after brushing my teeth and showering and looked through the bag of stuff Jimmy brought for me from back home. My mom must of packed it because all of my favorite clothes were in there, which was nice, it made me feel more at home in my new place. I then saw the bag Junior had brought with the riding boots and pants in them. I looked at the stuff, thinking about how nice and thoughtful it was of Junior to get them for me and then I noticed something at the bottom of the bag. It was a note, from Junior and it read,

'I noticed today that I wanted to call you or text you or something but you don't have a cell phone. So I got you this because it will make our lives and relationship much easier, don't think of it as charity. –Junior'

Underneath the note was a phone, my very own. I turned it on and in the contact list had both Junior's and Dani's numbers. I immediately texted Junior,

'You're the greatest, Junior! Good luck at poker. Goodnight, Kris.'


	14. Chapter 14

I woke up the next morning at 5:30 to find a note on the table from Jimmy,

'Wanted to get an early start. Thanks for letting me crash, keep in touch –Jimmy'

I was kind of disappointed that he didn't say goodbye, but at the same time this way sort of made things easier. After I took a shower and got dressed I ate a bowl of cereal and there was still sometime so I went to go see Wildfire. This time I didn't get stopped by anyone on my way over and he was actually in his stall. I did my whistle and he peaked his head out. It was perfect, exactly how I wanted every morning to go, spending a little time with my horse. Well okay, he wasn't my horse, but still.

I sat on the ground in Wildfire's stall and brushed him, thinking about life. I'd have to remember to ask Pablo more about becoming a Jockey, because that's the only thing I can think of wanting to do for the rest of my life. Then I thought about how Junior gave me that phone, I wonder if he had texted me back yet, probably not, he does sleep in late. After brushing Wildfire for about 10 minutes it was time to go to work. Pablo had me do the basic stuff helping out around the farm and with Wildfire's training. At lunchtime I went to my trailer to get some food and I decided to check if I had any messages on my phone. Nothing. I texted Junior saying maybe we could hangout later tonight and then I texted Dani, just so she could have my new number. Then I went back outside to eat my lunch with the guys. They never talked much, at least not to me, so it was always kind of boring if no one visited me.

The day went by slow, and there was no sign of Junior or Dani, I didn't even see Matt or Todd all day. I finished up for the day around four and since there was nothing to do in my trailer I decided to ask Pablo about Jockeying.

"I told you Kris, you need to finish up school before you can start thinking about becoming a Jockey," was all Pablo said about it. Great, how was I supposed to do that? Pablo said he had to work so I just went back to my trailer, ate and took a nap. I woke up around seven, and checked my phone. Dani had texted saying shopping this Saturday was going to be a no go, because of the race, which I'd completely forgotten about, at least I'd see her there, and hopefully Junior too.

When there was still no sign of having any visitors tonight I decided to take Jean up on her offer and go over to the Ritter's, just to have some company. I knocked on the door and waited for a while, when someone finally answered.

"Hello, Kris," Henry said with a smile.

"Hi, Henry." I smiled back as he stepped to the side so I could enter the house. "Where's everyone else?" I asked him while glancing around the house.

"Jean and Todd went to the city a few hours ago to get Todd some new video game and Matt is still with Junior, I think." He answered.

"Oh," was all I replied, sort of upset that no one was around to hang with, but mainly curious as to what Junior and Matt did all night and all day.

"You can still come in though," he said, looking like he wanted some company just as much as me.

"Okay," I answered cheerfully, just happy to have someone new to talk to.

Henry and I sat at the kitchen table and he brought out some cards, which I was happy to see since I used to always play with my brother and his friends, just like Jimmy and I did last night. At first Henry and I just talked about how working around the farm was going and then we talked about the race this weekend and how Wildfire was doing. Then the conversation turned.

"What do you plan on doing in the future?" He suddenly asked me.

"Um, I'm not really sure. I really like working with horses though, and I've been told I'm good at riding, so I was thinking about Jockeying." I explained to him, still a little unsure of the idea, because I don't know if I can really do it.

"That sounds perfect for you." Henry enthusiastically answered. "I could help you, if you want. Drive you to the test and what not." He continued.

"Wow, thanks Henry!" I never saw him around much, but he was always so kind. "I'd love that."

"So what's going on with you and Junior?" He then asked, getting personal.

"Now that I'm not sure about," I laughed, really not having any understanding of what Junior and I were.

"Well he seems to like you, from what I've seen at least." Henry replied, smiling at me, "and hey, I hear Matt hasn't been bothering you anymore." Henry joked, and I couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

"Yeah, that's true," I said, trying to control myself, I never thought Henry could be so funny.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" He asked while glancing at the clock, which read 8:15.

"I ate already, actually." I replied.

"How about some dessert then?" He asked, I just nodded my head and smiled. He brought over a jar of cookies and some milk and we started to devour them, continuing to talk about what it takes to be a Jockey, the farm, and Wildfire. We didn't talk about Junior anymore though, which I was happy about, because I had no idea what was happening between him and me.

"Dad?" I heard Jean call out as the front door open.

"We're in here." Henry called out.

"We? Is Matt home?" She questioned as she entered the room. "Oh, Kris. It's nice to see you." She smiled, setting some bags down on the table. Todd walked in and started to eat some of the cookies as well.

"Hey, Kris!" Todd cheered with his mouth full.

"Hi, Todd," I replied in exchange. "How was the city?" I asked them.

"It was awesome, I got a new video game!" He said excitedly.

"Cool, we should play sometime." I replied, loving Todd's enthusiasm. "But I should probably get going now, thanks for the keeping me company Henry." I said, as I waved goodbye to the family. When I got back to my trailer I checked my phone, hoping for a reply from Junior, and I was in luck!

'Hey Kris. Glad you like the phone. We need to talk, can I come by later tonight?'

I saw Junior's car pull up to the Ritter's around 10:30 and Matt stepped out, waving goodbye to his friend and going inside the house. I was nervous, and not the normal nervous I feel around Junior, where I have butterflies and feel like I'm falling in love. It's the kind of nerves you get when you don't know what's going to happen. When you feel as though your about to lose something great, something you never even had to begin with. I didn't want that to happen. Junior and I had barely even had a chance to get to know each other. But those four words, "we need to talk", those are the words that are always followed with devastation. I got up off of the couch and left my trailer, watching Junior walk towards me.

"Hey Furillo," he replied rather nonchalantly, as though nothing were wrong. I wondered what was going on.

"Hey," I said quietly, still unsure.

"Where's Jimmy?" Junior asked, saying Jimmy's name in a condescending tone.

"He left before I woke up," I replied, still quiet.

"Didn't even say goodbye, sounds familiar." Junior said with a touch of hurt, referring to yesterday morning when I left. I guess Jimmy must have bothered him more than he originally let on.

"He and I are just friends Junior." I said with a little anger, hating to repeat myself.

"Right, friends." He nodded silently, looking pensive. "Friends that would hookup every chance they got when your criminal of a boyfriend was tired of you. How am I supposed to know that's not what happened last night, huh? It's not like we're together or anything." Junior added, his voice slowly rising.

"That's," I stuttered, angry that Junior thought of me that way, "that's not what happened Junior." I finished, hurt. Not only by his words, but also by the fact that I could see this relationship, if that's what it even was, coming to an end. "Thanks for thinking so highly of me." I added, frustration filing me to the core as I tried to stifle in my tears.

"Then what happened Kris?" He asked, looking into my eyes for answers.

"I mean obviously I'm some slut that jumps into the bed of every man that looks at me. So what do you think happened, Junior?" I yelled, my anger building every second that I looked at him. I didn't let him answer though, "You think that after you left we ripped each others clothes off and fucked all night, right? And then he left in the morning without saying goodbye, and I just didn't care and went right back to trying to get with you, cause I'm some heartless bitch. That's what you think, isn't it?" I asked, waiting for his reply this time. He just stared at me, his eyes cutting deep. And I stared back, unable to stay mad at him. I guess I would be upset to if that Laura girl spent the night at his place. "Look, Junior." I began with a lowered voice, stepping towards him he stayed in place, still staring down at me, "That's not at all what happened. And I'm sorry if you thought it is, and that you thought that's how I am. You left, we ate some frozen pizza and played some cards and were in bed by ten, that's what happened. He really did just need a place to crash on his way to live with his brother." I explained, wanting this argument to be over.

"Kris," He said, walking towards me, "I don't care about Jimmy, okay? What I really care about and want to talk about is us. I could hardly sleep last night knowing Jimmy was with you and we hadn't even had a chance to talk about what we were yet. I tried to stay away all day to gather myself, but it was so hard." He said, holding on to my crossed arms. "I didn't mean to attack you about the Jimmy thing." He said, looking down at me apologetically. "I've just never felt this way about someone, and it's confusing me." He half smiled.

"Not even Laura?" I asked, still wondering who in the hell she was.

"No," he replied smiling, shaking his head in reassurance.

"Want to come in?" I asked, leading him up the stairs into my trailer. "You haven't actually seen the inside yet." He just followed me in.

 _ **Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while, life's been pretty busy lately and I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go with the story. This chapter is a bit of a filler, more Krunior to come though. As always, I love reviews especially with suggestions for those times I have writer's block. Thanks, -Z**_


	15. Chapter 15

"Nice place," Junior said, looking around with his hands in his back pockets, nodding. "Much roomier than I thought it would be." He added, I think he was trying to make me feel good about living in a trailer, but that was something I actually wasn't embarrassed about. I loved having my own place and it was the perfect size for just me, less to clean.

"Thanks, I still need to make it more me, with decorations and stuff, but I like it." I replied. "Want something to drink?" I asked, trying to be a good hostess.

"I'm fine thanks," Junior answered, looking at the pictures I put on the windowsill from the stuff Jimmy brought. "Who's this?" he asked, holding up a picture of an older looking boy and me. I grabbed it from him and stared at it a while. Thinking about how much I missed him, Junior stared at me.

"That's my brother, Jace," I answered quickly, not really wanting to talk about him too much. I think Junior got the hint.

"Who's this one?" He asked, handing me the other picture.

"That's my mom and me." I said, setting it back down on the sill.

"You look a lot like her," he said happily, and I just nodded, not wanting to think about her either.

"Let's talk about something else, huh?" I said, pulling him down onto the couch next to me.

"Okay, like what?" He questioned, turning towards me with his classic Junior grin.

"How was poker last night?" I asked, curious about what went on at the game.

"Same old same old." He said with a shrug.

"Come on," I begged, tugging on his arm, "do you guys bet with real money?" I asked, wondering if it was like the games I used to play with the guys back home.

"Yep," was all he replied.

"Well did you win?"

"Only like 50 bucks, which is way better than how Matt came out of it." He said, looking off to the side. I could sense he didn't really want to talk about it though, so I changed the subject yet again.

"So you wanted to talk about us?" I questioned. This time he whipped his head back to look right at me, and he smiled. "Well? What about us did you want to talk about?" I asked, knowing perfectly well he wanted to talk about the status of our relationship. Neither of us said anything for a while though. He just stared at me, telling me with his eyes exactly what he wanted, and I couldn't help but want him too. Normally I wouldn't jump into a relationship with someone I just met, but with Junior it was different. With him it just felt right. Suddenly he pulled my face into his hands and our lips collided. As our bodies moved closer I felt complete. Like I'd been missing something this whole time, and didn't even know it until now. Something came over me and before I knew it I was pushing Junior down and we were lying on the couch, with me straddling him. He quickly stood up and carried me over to the bed, setting me down and taking his shirt off. I couldn't believe this was happening, but I didn't want it to stop. But all of a sudden he did.

"What's wrong?" I asked, hoping I didn't do something.

Junior was standing over me, leaning his head on my forehead, "Are you sure?" he asked, gazing into my eyes, I just nodded. He then reached down and pulled my shirt off, I was already in my pajamas, so I didn't have on a bra, but I didn't feel exposed, not with Junior. It felt so natural with him. I began to unfasten his pants, and then my own. And he leaned onto the bed and dove back into another kiss, lowering me down onto my back. It was better than any other time before with Win or Jimmy, and afterwards I just lied in his arms, enjoying the silence and the feel of our skin touching.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of a knock on my door and I rolled over and noticed that Junior was still there, fast asleep. Then I noticed that the clock said 8:22, great, I was late for work. I quickly got out of bed, trying not to wake Junior. I scribbled down a note for him saying I had to get to work and to help himself to whatever food he wanted. I then pulled on the jeans from yesterday, put on a bra and grabbed a shirt from the pile. My hair was a mess but I pulled it into a pony and put on my hat, so you couldn't notice. I yanked my shoes on and ran to the door, trying not to open it too far, I didn't really care to share that part of my life with anyone at work. It was Pablo.

"I'm so sorry, I over slept," I panted, a little out of breath from get dressed in under a minute, "it'll never happen again, I promise."

"Don't worry Kris, it happens to the best of us, I just wanted to make sure you weren't dead," he laughed, and I just took a deep breath, relieved I wasn't in trouble. I then noticed that Juniors car was still parked in front of the Ritter's house, which was a dead give away that he stayed the night. But hopefully Pablo thought it was with Matt and not me. "Come on, let's get to work. We have a lot to do before the race this weekend if we want Wildfire to come out on top." He said, tossing me an apple before he made his way over to the stable Wildfire was in.

Pablo had me going nonstop working with Wildfire, so I didn't get much of a chance to think about what happened with Junior last night. But one thing I did think about was that fact that we never actually talked about where we stood with one another. Does this mean were together now, like together, together? I was pulled out of my thought by the sight of Junior walking towards his car, I guess he'd finally woken up, it was almost lunch time. I wished I could go over there and talk to him, but I was in the middle of work, so close yet so far I thought.

"Okay, you can go for lunch now," Pablo said to me with perfect timing, almost like he knew I wanted to go over and talk to Junior.

"Thanks Pablo!" He just grinned, maybe he did know. I ran towards Junior waving my arms and yelling, not wanting him to drive away without seeing me. "Junior, Junior wait up!" I yelled.

"Where's the fire?" He teased, making fun of my urgency.

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't leave without saying goodbye," I joked. He stared down at me, like he always did,

"Goodbye," he whispered, tucking a piece of my loose hair behind my ear, slowly inching his face closer to mine.

"Bye," I whispered back even quieter, wanting so badly for him to kiss me. But then he straightened back up.

"I'll text you? Maybe we can hang out tonight?" He asked, getting into his car.

"Uh, yeah," I replied, confused by his sudden change. I swear this boy had more mood swings than a pregnant woman. He just waved and drove off towards the exit of the farm, without even a kiss goodbye.

I walked back to my trailer slowly, thinking about what the hell just happened. I finally came to the conclusion, for my own sanity, that Junior was just being a tease, trying to leave me wanting more. I thought that was the girl's job, but Junior did it really well, because all I wanted was more. I decided to eat lunch in my trailer, staring at my phone the whole time hoping Junior would text me sooner, rather than later. But no luck, after half an hour I had to get back to work, so I slowly made my way back to the practice track where Pablo was standing with Wildfire.

"Good, Kris. I need you to just hang out with Wildfire the rest of the day. We don't want to over work him, but I want you to keep him company so nothing happens to him, and he feels comfortable. This race this weekend is very, very important." He said to me.

"Okay, sounds easy enough." I said, relieved I wouldn't have to do any manual labor for the rest of the day, and hopefully the rest of the week. I took Wildfire back to his stall and gave him a carrot. He then lied down, probably tired from training for most of the morning, and I leaned down on him, both of us falling asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

"Kris. Kris," Jean whispered, shaking my shoulder slightly. I stirred, but I was stuck dreaming about Junior, I hadn't seen him in a few days, since we slept together to be exact, and all I wanted was to be with him. But I have to focus on the race, it's tomorrow and I have suddenly become Wildfire's caretaker it seems. I slowly opened my eyes, adjusting to my surroundings of the stable, I'd been spending each evening after work here with Wildfire before the race. The sun looked like it was about to set, so there was still a bit of light covering the farm from the side, it must be around 6 o'clock, I thought. I wondered why it seems like I am always taking a nap around this time of day, and being awoken by different people each time. It must be because I'm still getting used to the extraneous work that comes with being a farm hand. Sometimes I wish I could just skip forward in life, skip all the unknowns, all the what-ifs and just be with Junior, become a Jockey and live happily ever after. I wouldn't have to be the one to pick up after the horses or fix the fence. I could just ride and be free. Then I started to wonder what Junior wanted to do when he got older. Did he want to take over Davis Farms? because it didn't seem as if he was that into horses. Each thought lead me to another, the lingering feeling of how I didn't really know Junior, and he didn't really know me. But I wanted to know him; I wanted to be with him. Jean then lead me back to reality,

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?" I replied, coming away from my thoughts, looking up at her. "Yeah," I said, tucking some hair behind my ear, "yeah, I'm fine. I was just confused about where I was for a second." I laughed.

"Looks like you and Wildfire are pretty comfortable." She said, smiling at the pair of us.

"Yeah, I hope the company will help him this weekend." I said, while rubbing my neck, suddenly realizing it probably isn't actually the comfiest of places to sleep. "I better get back to my trailer and eat some dinner," I told Jean, not really in the mood to stay and chat.

"That's actually why I woke you, we're all having dinner inside, if you'd like to join us. Pablo's there too it's sort of a tradition we have before a big race." She smiled, looking hopeful that I'd say yes.

"That'd be great. I have to go freshen up a bit first though, I think I have hay in my hair." I laughed, pulling a piece out.

"Of course." With that I got up and went straight to my trailer. I didn't know if I had time for a shower, and I didn't really feel like taking one right now, cause I wanted to right before bed. So I just brushed out my hair, removing the pieces of hay as I went and changed my shirt. That was all I felt like doing, so I headed over to the main house. As I walked I stopped in my tracks suddenly noticing the silver Porsche parked in front of the Ritter's. Although I still cared about Junior and wanted to be with him, it seemed like it would be awkward for our first interaction since that night to be around my boss and her family. It's not that either of us didn't want to see the other, our schedules just never seemed to match up, but we have been texting, so hopefully things won't be too awkward. I decided to keep walking, I didn't want my anxiety of the interaction to get in the way of my relationship with Jean. Over the past few days she's been so encouraging, like the mother I never had, but always wanted.

"Can we talk?" Junior asked after I greeted everyone, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the view of everyone else.

"Not now," I whispered, he looked a little disappointed, "after?"

"After," he nodded with a smile.

"So Kris, how's Wildfire been? I couldn't help but notice you two hardly leave each others side." Henry joked.

"He's been great, actually. I definitely think he's ready for the race tomorrow. But I don't want to say too much, with the enemy here and all." I teased, glancing over at Junior.

"Hey, I wouldn't understand a thing you said anyways." Junior laughed.

We all sat in the dining room, which was nice, kind of on the fancy side, but nowhere near the Davis'. You could tell Jean decorated it, because it was really homey and had a ranch vibe still. She made pot roast and we all talked about the race and I asked probably about a thousand questions, seeing as how I was the only one there that had never actually been to a horse race before. Illegally street racing, sure, horse racing, no. It was nice to feel like I was a part of a real family.

After we all helped clean up we decided to go our separated ways. Pablo had some things he needed to get together before tomorrow, Matt was going to meet Dani, Todd wanted to play his new video game, Henry was ready for bed, and Jean had to clean a few more things up. That left Junior and I. We walked out on to the porch and just sort of looked at each other for awhile, in silence.

"Come on," I said, pulling his arm this time, leading him towards my trailer. I didn't want whatever it was we were going to talk about to be so out in the open. We entered into my trailer and Junior started to laugh. I had no idea why. "What's so funny?" I asked seriously, kind of upset.

"Really Furillo. The last time you brought me into your trailer to talk we ended up in bed. Is that what your trying to do here?" Junior teased. I just stared up at him, grimacing. I mean, he had a point, but still, it was rude to laugh.

"Whatever." I said, trying not to laugh myself. "Do you want to talk or not?" I asked.

"Yes, I want to talk." He said, coming closer to me. We sat down on opposite ends of the couch, facing each other. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." He suddenly blurted out. "When I would drop off Matt, there you were working away, and I didn't know if I could come and talk to you or not. Every time you texted me my heart jumped. I only came to the dinner tonight because I knew you'd be there. So I guess what I'm saying is that I want to be with you. I don't want anymore of this unsure, were kind of seeing each other thing. I want to be your boyfriend and you to be my girlfriend. Who cares if we've only known each other a couple weeks. The connection's there and I can't make it go away." Junior quickly said, not pausing for a breath. I didn't know what to say myself though, because I felt the same way, but I was scared. So we just sat there, staring at each other. It felt like an eternity, it was probably only a few minutes though.

"Okay." Was all I managed to say.

"Okay" Junior smiled, I guess he took that as a yes, I guess I meant it as one too.

"So what now?" I asked, unsure if we should do anything different now that we were officially together.

"We can just hang out for awhile. We'll have to wake up early though, with the race tomorrow and all." Junior said, interlocking his fingers with mine.

We sat and talked for hours. About what our plans for the future were, what we wanted our relationship to be like, and horses and cars and what our favorite foods were. Eventually I needed to take a shower, Junior sat and waited. We fell asleep talking, life seemed perfect.

 _ **Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. Life's just sort of been a whirlwind. I still like this story though, and know where I want it to go so hopefully more updates will come soon. -Z**_


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